Freedom Fighters

An interesting story recently (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-iraqplay22jun22,1,4871859.story?coll=la-headlines-nation) told of students at Wilton High School in Connecticut who put together a play that told the story of recent war veterans in their own words. The teacher and students strove to make the presentation balanced, giving both the pluses and minuses of experiences in Iraq. But a parent protested, the principal caved, and the students were forbidden to put on the presentation. Too controversial.

Then the story made the news and the students ended up with an invitation to present their play in New York, to large and appreciative audiences.

Over the last few years, we have been told that our soldiers are in Afghanistan and Iraq fighting for our freedom, that our "enemies" there hate freedom. So why is it that the people who make this argument most vociferously are the ones who seem to do the most to try to cut back our freedoms? Freedom of speech should be one of the freedoms we defend and exercise to the utmost.

Then again, freedom did triumph, since the students were able to present their play. For that we can be grateful. But that doesn't excuse the impulse -- in this and in so many other cases over the years -- to try to silence people who may have something to say which the "powers that be" oppose.