Prometheus 6

"When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."

You are not supposed to be allowed to read this column. It was solicited by another publisher and then returned to sender, me, because it says things that some people are allowed to say but others, apparently, are not.

The story is this. A magazine in the United States, no names mentioned, planned to publish a "roundtable" feature on the upcoming election. The question posed to each of the writers seemed at first blush to be basically simple, essentially straightforward: "What," the editor wanted to know from each of us, "do you think is the major issue in the upcoming November presidential election?" "Interesting question," I thought. "I can't wait to see the answers to this one."

Then this magazine that is incorporated as a 501c3 organization, or not-for-profit entity, got a ruling from its lawyer saying that if this particular feature were printed they stood in danger of losing their tax-exempt status. Since all of the writers, it seems, had criticized the Bush administration for some failure in regard to the area of interest being treated, the company lawyer feared IRS reprisals against the group on the grounds of "political endorsement."

The magazine withdrew the opinion pieces that formed the basis for the roundtable.

That happened in the face of Catholic bishops who will refuse Communion to candidates who vote for pro-choice legislation and Bush campaign strategists who have targeted 1,600 "friendly" churches in Pennsylvania to hand over their list of members to the local Republican party.

As a result, I have decided to publish those previous comments of mine here, not as a political endorsement of any kind, but simply because I still believe in two things: First, I believe in freedom of speech. And secondly, I still believe in the United States as "land of the free and home of the brave."

When either of those qualities goes, the country won't be worth living in anyway, taxes or no taxes.

So, I repeat here what was meant to be published there: