'A Chill Wind is Blowing in This Nation...' : Transcript of the speech given by actor Tim Robbins to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2003 (via Brian Kane)
Our ability to disagree, and our inherent right to question our leaders and criticize their actions define who we are. To allow those rights to be taken away out of fear, to punish people for their beliefs, to limit access in the news media to differing opinions is to acknowledge our democracy's defeat. These are challenging times. There is a wave of hate that seeks to divide us -- right and left, pro-war and anti-war. In the name of my 11-year-old nephew, and all the other unreported victims of this hostile and unproductive environment of fear, let us try to find our common ground as a nation. Let us celebrate this grand and glorious experiment that has survived for 227 years. To do so we must honor and fight vigilantly for the things that unite us -- like freedom, the First Amendment and, yes, baseball.
- Tim Robbins
I would be the first to tell you that I strongly disagree with Tim Robbins' view of the war against Iraq. I do, agree, however, with the tenor of his speech. Freedom of speech used to be a cherished value in this country. Now, freedom of speech comes with a caveat- you are free to voice your opinions as long as they do not contradict those of the majority. That you do at your own risk.
A teacher in another nephew's school is fired for wearing a T- shirt with a peace sign on it. And a friend of the family tells of listening to the radio down South as the talk radio host calls for the murder of a prominent anti-war activist. Death threats have appeared on other prominent anti-war activists' doorsteps for their views. Relatives of ours have received threatening e-mails and phone calls. And my 13-year-old boy, who has done nothing to anybody, has recently been embarrassed and humiliated by a sadistic creep who writes -- or, rather, scratches his column with his fingernails in dirt.
Susan and I have been listed as traitors, as supporters of Saddam, and various other epithets by the Aussie gossip rags masquerading as newspapers, and by their fair and balanced electronic media cousins, 19th Century Fox. (Laughter.) Apologies to Gore Vidal. (Applause.)
Two weeks ago, the United Way canceled Susan's appearance at a conference on women's leadership. And both of us last week were told that both we and the First Amendment were not welcome at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A famous middle-aged rock-and-roller called me last week to thank me for speaking out against the war, only to go on to tell me that he could not speak himself because he fears repercussions from Clear Channel. "They promote our concert appearances," he said. "They own most of the stations that play our music. I can't come out against this war."
And here in Washington, Helen Thomas finds herself banished to the back of the room and uncalled on after asking Ari Fleischer whether our showing prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay on television violated the Geneva Convention.
A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications.
Every day, the air waves are filled with warnings, veiled and unveiled threats, spewed invective and hatred directed at any voice of dissent. And the public, like so many relatives and friends that I saw this weekend, sit in mute opposition and fear.
I will admit to having on occasion been as intolerant as anyone else on this issue, but I've begun to realize that opinions are not the problem here. Being a voice of dissent hardly makes one a threat to our way of life. In fact, it is that very voice of dissent that represents what makes this country the great power that it is today.
I may have not always appreciated the opinions of those who are virulently anti-war, and yes, some of their opinions were bordering on the ridiculous. I have become appalled at the death threats, the verbal abuse, and the taunting that opponents of the war have been subjected to. Whatever happened to respecting differences? Or have we as a nation become so fearful for our own personal safety and freedom that we are willing to stamp down anything that can even remotely be perceived as dissent? If so, then perhaps terrorism has already achieved it's goal.
