It took 15 million dollars to lure Katie Couric away from the Today show to sit at the desk where men like Cronkite and Rather spat out the truth on a nightly basis. 15 million reasons for CBS to believe that Ms. Couric would somehow, on her own, restore the glory days to a network that's consistently been picking up the rear for a number of years.
Now, I don't call for Katie Couric's immediate dismissal, I believe if the ratings tank the way they have, Ms. Couric will be unemployed in no time.
The Free Speech segment towards the end of her show, at first, met with my applaud. What a concept! A devotion to freedom of speech. An expression of ideas. And, what better person to launch such a great idea than Katie Couric.
Huh?
The segment has been a colassial failure.
Instead of lettting it be a segment devoted to an expression of ideas at a time where thinking is unacceptable, the free speech segment has been used as a forum to dispense opinions like used kleenix.
Let's start with America's favorite comedian, Rush Limbaugh.
Mr. Oxycotin used his time to whine about critics of Bush's policies, who he believes not to be interested in victory, but rather punishing the country over a few incidents at Abu Ghraib and at Gitmo.
This is the same Rush Limbaugh who said that anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan's story is nothing more than "forged documents." And, this is the same Rush Limbaugh who alleged that Hillary Clinton was someone involved in the 1993 suicide of Vince Foster.
Yet, he's allowed to speak during a "free speech" segment when his track record has proven without a shadow of a doubt that he uses "free speech" to spread lies and hatred, through the comfort of his chair.
How about my favorite, free speech segment, featuring Rudy Giuliani.
Now, I didn't have a problem of what he said, it's the notion that Rudy Giuliani was allowed to talk on a forum called "free speech."
This is the same Rudy Giuliani when he was Mayor of New York, threatened to cut off city funding for the Brooklyn Museum if the museum did not remove a number of works in an exhibit that featured a picture of the Virgin Mary next to elephant dung and female genitalia pictures. In their defense, the museum filed a lawsuit against Giuliani, saying he violated their first amendment rights, Giuliani was ordered to resume funding, not before Federal Judge Nina Gershon issued this ruling:
"t]here is no federal constitutional issue more grave than the effort by government officials to censor works of expression and to threaten the vitality of a major cultural institution as punishment for failing to abide by governmental demands for orthodoxy."
Yet, America's Mayor, who once used his power to silence someone's first Amendment rights was allowed to appear on a forum called "free speech." Talk about the irony.
Oh, and by the way, Ms. Couric, next time, try to do a little research.
Bill Maher, no stranger to controversy himself, said he was invited to do a few minutes on the "Free speech" segment. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it due to the fact that the folks at CBS weren't too pleased with his choice. Religion.
Of course, Bill, would've gone to town on religion, we all know that from his comedy specials and his brilliant TV show. But, as I mention before, the premise for a segment like this is to exchange ideas, not suppress it, for fear of pissing off people.
What finally set me off on this debacle at CBS was the appearance of Sean Hannity.
Sean Hannity has nothing constructive to say. It's basically the same talking points memo that oozes out of his mouth everyday on his radio show and television show.
On Couric's show, Hannity falsely suggested that Al Gore "reversed course" on Iraq. LIE! Al Gore has always been against the war in Iraq. And, yet despite Hannity's history of divisive statements, he had the gall to blame the country's current divide on the Democratic party.
Once again, Katie, before you book these people, do your research.
It's obvious that people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity represent the worse in America. They add nothing to the political debate. It's their right as an American to spew their hate speech on a daily basis. However, both Limbaugh and Hannity give free speech a bad rap.
Katie, do yourself a favor, save yourself the embarrassment and pull the plug on the "free speech" segment. The forum has done nothing but become a laughingstock throughout the country. If you don't, then the only thing you would've accomplish at CBS was making a mockery of "free speech."