Page 2/The BattalionThursday, March 10,1988
Opinion
There’s a price we pay for freedom of the press
You wonder
sometimes, how
far should “free
dom of the press”
extend? Should a
smutty, tacky pub
lication like Hus
tler magazine be
able print some
thing completely
outrageous and
untrue about a re
ligious leader —
Amy
Couvillon
without any kind of legal check?
A parody that Hustler printed in
1984 — depicting evangelist Jerry Fal-
well as an alcoholic who had sex with his
mother in an outhouse — was offensive
in the extreme. Yet the U.S. Supreme
Court recently overturned a $200,000
award that a lower court had awarded to
Falwell for “emotional distress.” Should
the Constitution protect malicious at
tacks such as this?
Distasteful as it is to some, the Consti
tution sometimes protects smut. And it
must.
“It’s easy to stand up for nice talk
from nice people, but the First Amend
ment protects all speech, even the outra
geous,” Paul McMasters of the Society
of Professional Journalists said after the
Supreme Court’s ruling.
To win a libel judgment against the
media, a public figure must prove that
the jou rnalist knew a damaging
statement was false or published it with
“reckless disregard” for the truth. But
the parody in Larry Flynt’s Hustler, the
court said, was not “reasonably believab
le,” so it fell into the category of satire
and was thus protected as free speech.
The justices ruled that “emotional dis
tress” lawsuits Filed by public figures tar
geted by such spoofs should be as diffi
cult to win as libel suits.
The justices’ ruling rejected Falwell’s
arguments — and a federal appeals
court’s ruling — that some parodies are
so outrageous that they do not deserve
legal protection. The court held that
freedom of the press must not be com
promised by restraints based on some
thing as subjective as “outrageousness”
or hurl feelings.
“Outrageousness in the area of politi
cal and social discourse has an inherent
subjectiveness about it which would al
low a jury to impose liability on the basis
of the jurors tastes or views,” said Chief
Justice William Rehnquist, adding that
such results are not consistent with the
Constitution.
Falwell has said “I am sure the jus
tices, in view of Larry Flynt, were hold
ing their noses while making the rul
ing.” He’s probably right. But had the
court decided in Falwell’s favor, satire,
political cartoons, and perhaps even
tually all opinionated comment about
public figures would have been vulnera
ble to similar lawsuits. Humorists like
Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) and
Berke Breathed (Bloom County) could
be sued — and perhaps have to pay
huge amounts of money in damages —
whenever their cartoons caused some-
‘emotional distress.”
one
News organizations were relieved by
the ruling.
“Editorial cartoons have been a par
ticular target of lawsuits lately,” McMas
ters said. “The court was right to speak
up so forcefully of behalf of . . . the
tools editorial cartoonists use so well.”
Editorial cartoonists are practiced in
the art of making public figures look
silly. And many times the public figures
deserve to be made to look silly.
Exaggerated commentary, like Art
Buchwald’s syndicated columns, and
cartoons help readers to understand
and evaluate the actions of newsmakers.
Any chilling effect on cartooning and
other satire will deprive the media of
something valuable and usef ul.
When I was an intern at the Houston
Post I used to watch editorial cartoonist
Jimmy Margulies as he made fun of
Gov. Bill Clements, President Reagan
and anyone else who happened to goof
in the public eye.
When Gary Hart rejoined the race
for the Democratic nomination despite
v\
B
his much publicized tryst withal
model, Margulies had a field day
cartoon the next day suggested;
Hart may not carry the Sun Beltoi
Bible Belt, but sure needed to cam
Chastity Belt. And there wasalittlt
toon figure of Hart with a medie
looking chastity belt fastened o
corrct place.
Margulies’ cartoon may not
been completely factually correct
such a parody may have hurt 1
feelings. But it is valuable intheq heWciy
discusison of news events and public!
tires — discussion that the Supn
Men t
er a rel
hey doi
nent, at
exas A
Farre
Court ruling defended as ‘‘robustpo ecture i
cal debate.”
Satire and cartoons like Margin |he Met
certainly shouldn’t be subjected
motional distress” lawsuits. And if
:ussions
have to protect an occasional Hustle f
11 t ne froi
protect all opinion writing, thentna:
price we have to pay.
oup o
bllow-u
The
hree h<
Becac
Amy Couvillon is a senior ioumim ,u
maior, city editor and columnist r Qr rmi
The Battalion. Hanin fo
I'LLTEU-YA.'NW TOOSECCWtAUNVSr COUNTRIES N-'WR/S
BIOM USOKTMHEOUrtAPtCS- VTS 'CAUSE TWEV BRftV
CMIWEHT BE NHl£VES,TVVW , S W/~ PUSHING: W MOLDING:
'ER UKE THE/ WEFE R3 R0FE THAH UTTLE M&HINLS? WHY, THE/*
JIMW? IS TNAff ftU, W? YOU MAK&
rm team rw, r little wimp, oa ,
JUST PONT BOTHER, C0M1N' HOME, V'HEAR?
• ANV'NAY, AS \ 'WAS SAWN'-.
gam
Tuesc
Was it fight or frighi
in audie
egan b
|tand ir
vomen
vomen
for Pat in the war?
1 broach i
flr 't’l
The a
What a
port Pat
spoils-
R o b -
ertson turned out
to be. After filing
a $35 million law
suit to defend his
alleged honor,
he’s now trying to
drop the whole
thing.
Now we’ll never
know if he was the
heroic, patriotic
young Marine lieutenant
mput ever
of thing:
Hnale is i
makes it possible for it all to fallflaiB 61 ? 1 ^ s
. i ■ r to lim
its back.
Mike
Ro^ko
The
But to get back to Robertson'sh>.' risk qui
and his last-minute decision to drop:;’male) is
He says he would have prefercttgljfj^ 0
have a trial and prove that McCtaffif s j tt { n j
was a liar, but he just doesn’t havealfemale.
because he’s so busy running forprBemale.
dent. ■ “Man
If he pursed the matter, Robert*
says, he’d have to stop campaigning! enedby
Mail Call
Demonstrations will do no good
EDITOR:
Apartheid is right. Apartheid is wrong. Nelson Man
dela is Satan. Nelson Mandela is a saint. Which is correct?
We’ll never know, if our newest architectural assault on
aesthetics is the Students Against Apartheid’s most elo
quent argument against apartheid in South Africa.
It is insulting to the Texas A&M student body to pre
sume that a shanty, spray-painted with political slogans,
will do anything to enhance our knowledge or apprecia
tion of the situation in South Africa. This eyesore only
serves to alienate the S.A.A. from the mainstream of the
student body and shifts debate away from the issue at hand
— the institution of apartheid.
Apartheid shacks and group sit-ins may be in vogue at
UC-Berkeley or UT-Austin, but these tactics are neither
effective nor appreciated on the A&M campus. A well
written letter or editorial in The Battalion or The Eagle
has every bit as much exposure as a shack set up in front of
the Academic Building and can do what a spray-painted
slogan can never do — inform the student body about facts
and correct fallacies. I’m confident that Aggies are capable
of formulating an intelligent opinion based on facts. I
hope the S.A.A. will throw down the graffiti artist’s spray
paint can and pick up the journalist’s pen. While you’re at
it, grab a crowbar.
CT had consumed too much alcohol and attempted to
cross the “sacred” drill field. I guess that he didn’t make it.
When I saw it, the 15 or 20 BQs were beating on him and
threatening to break his neck. The drunk CT could hardly
stand up, much less fight back. Are the BQs such cowards
that it takes 20 of them to stop someone who is too drunk
to stand up from crossing “their” field? One or two could
have done just as good a job, but then they couldn’t show
their courage in numbers. When they realized that they
were being watched, one of them said, “Some CTs are such
smart-asses,” as if that was supposed to uphold their ac
tion. Thanks guys, my image of the band has been upheld.
Steve Smith ’89
Don’t blemish the campus
Larry Cox ’88
Let’s hear it for the band
EDITOR:
How many Aggies out there are proud of their
campus? I know I am! And to be walking across campus
and see a degrading shack constructed in the middle of
our campus was very offensive.
I understand the anti-apartheid group’s disapproval of
the racially biased South African government, and its
members certainly have the right to express their
opinions; however, I don’t believe blemishing our campus
is the acceptable way of doing this.
Maybe the group should direct its energies toward
actions for their cause that are more constructive rather
than degrading to our beautiful campus.
John West ’91
EDITOR:
Friday night at about 11:30 I saw something that didn’t
surprise me. There were between 15 and 20 BQs ganging
up on one other CT. From what I could gather, the lone
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff
reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to
maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed anamust include the
classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
he claims to
have been. Or if he really asked his pow
erful daddy, a U.S. senator, to keep him
away from the front lines of the Korean
War.
The whole purpose of the lawsuit was
to^answer these questions and to punish
Pete McCloskey, a former congressman
and Marine, who said that Robertson
was chicken back in 1951, when they
were both on a Korea-bound troopship.
In fact, McCloskey says Robertson is
still chicken for backing out of the law
suit after McCloskey went to all the
bother of preparing his defense.
McCloskey says his defense would in
clude testimony from other Marines on
the same troopship, who remember
Robertson talking about how his daddy
would make sure he got off in Japan.
Robertson did wave goodbye to his
buddies in Japan. And he remained
there for four months while most of the
others went on to fierce combat duty.
Many died. Others, such as McCloskey,
suffered terrible wounds.
McCloskey says his defense would
also include evidence that when Rob
ertson finally reached Korea, he was
tucked safely behind the lines where his
duties included being a liquor officer.
The accusation that he was a liquor
officers seems to irk Robertson as much
as being labeled chicken. He has vehe
mently denied ever being a liquor offi
cer and says no such military position
ever existed.
That surprises me. Of course liquor
officers existed. I even knew one. He
used to fly to Japan and return with a
planeload of liquor. We considered him
to be the most admirable, essential offi
cers in the outfit. In any popularity poll,
he would have scored far higher than,
say, the mess officer, who gave us
chipped beef on toast, or the chaplain,
who gave us lectures on shunning lewd
women. The liquor officer just gave us
hootch.
So I don’t understand why Robertson
is so incensed at being called a liquor of
ficer. While it may be true that an army
travels on its stomach, there are pleasant
moments when a good liquor officer
begin preparing for the trial, w
i scheduled to begin March 8, which
Super Tuesday, the big priman
down South.
And that could deprive die Amei
people of an opportunity tA make
our next commander-in-chief.
All that could be true, 1 suppose.
Robertson filed the lawsuit about a
and a half ago, so I would think his
yers would have their case thoroui
prepared by now.
And on Super Tuesday, as on
other voting day, there isn’t muchthz
candidate can do besides show upi
polling place early to have his pii
taken.
After that, it’s just a matter of wail
for the polls to close and the votecoi
A candidate might just as well wail
courtroom as anywhere else.
In fact, it isn’t likely that Robei
would have to spend much time in a
at all. In many trials, including
cases, the plaintiff and defendanldi
have to be there most of the time
lawyers throw motions around,
judge rules of them, the witnesses
tify, the jury listens. About theonlyft
Robertson would have to be in ci
would he when he testified.
Even that appearance wouldn't ij
nificantly interrupt his campaign, sin
his testimony would bring him scadsl
publicity, which is what campaigniiiti
all about.
So I don’t understand why Robert!
had chosen to miss the opportunit)l
defend, as he put it, his honor.
The trial would be a chance fori
to describe his combat experience,sill
his official biographies have alwaysil
he was a “combat Marine.”
And it would give him a chancetoi
plain a happy letter that his late fal
se nt to a friend, passing along thegi
news that a big general had told
that Pat would remain in Japan aw
for special training
So it’s disappointing that Roberi
would decide to drop out just when!
action was about to begin.
Of course, McCloskey would say
it wasn’t the first time.
Copyright 1987, Tribune Media Services,1m
I
r:-
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sue Krenek, Editor
Daniel A. LaBry, Managing Editor
Mark Nair, Opinion Page Editor
Amy Couvillon, City Editor
Robbyn L. Lister and
Becky Weisenfels,
News Editors
Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor
Sam B. Myers, Photo Editor
Editorial Policy
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resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
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for students in reporting, editing and photography
classes within the Department of Journalism.
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BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke BreatH
HOloT/
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