First amendment.

My old pal and favorite skipper Christo Buckley got whacked from his job writing a column at the magazine his father founded. He had written in the new, and quite good, Tina Brown blog, The Daily Beast, that he was endorsing Barack Obama. This of course was a great get for Tina since Chris’ pop was famous for being one of the loudest architects of the revival of conservatism in the last century. He, WFB, also founded the bible of that movement, The National Review.

Until 24 hours ago young Buckley (younger than me anygate) had a column in his Dad’s old rag. Nice touch with the père no longer whinnying amongst us. But the backlash from people who had no business sticking their nose into a Brown blog was so overwhelming that when he playfully told Publisher Rich Lowery that he would send a letter of resignation, it was accepted before the ink was dry.

I’ve tried to read the NR a couple of times because they have some pretty good writers. But it so smacked of one-sidedness that I realized they weren’t trying to reach my ilk but more interested in pandering to the base, which is to say bowing and scraping to the one-eyed shrew, the buck almighty. Buckley said that the magazine was deluged with hate mail and the repeated cries to “cancel my subscription.” He notes that had happened even when WFB was in charge and he would retort, “Cancel your own goddamn subscription.”

Why is the idea of free speech so loath to the lapel-pin patriots who certainly must know that the first amendment is FIRST because it is the most important. When Sarah Palin nailed what she thought were hecklers at a rally, she made sure to remind them that people are dying in battle to protect your right to say whatever you want (which in this case was, “Could you speak up?”). We all have the right to say whatever we want, legally. You might get punched in the nose for expressing your opinion but basically we agree that it is a “right” and it is immutable. BTW, if there is a fire in a crowded theater, it’s okay to alert the patrons.

Here in the North Country, which is right now pimped-out in the panoply of autumnal awesomeness, we have a local rag that people love to rag on. They call it all manner of names that they think cute and pretend to barf when ever someone asks, “Did you read that article on whatever in the Sun?” Not the sports certainly, but the other stuff. The paper is such a hot topic that I was told the reason I didn’t get hired (years ago) at the Granite State News was because I had defended the Sun. Now there is somebody making their living on the first amendment actually telling me that there are certain things you shouldn’t say, even if you are asked?

I sympathize with Buckley having been fired from the Carroll County Independent at the beginning of the summer for writing a letter to the editor in the Sun. The publisher dropped me within hours of the letter's appearance. Dig it: A newspaper man fired one of his writers for writing in another paper! I still can’t believe it. But having been fired a good deal in my longish life I took it with equanimity because I knew that I couldn’t stay if they wanted me to back off of certain subjects or even just warned me to not write in other publications. It was of course very flattering to think that what I wrote had such impact. Not.

The Sun actually does its job of informing the people. They go beyond their mission of “printing the truth,” mostly, and provide just a shipload of entertainment mostly in the free form ravings of the letter-to-editor writers. This first amendment avenue, for those not fortunate enough to have their own blog, is a gift to the people. While many of us make fools of ourselves on those pages there are abundant laughs and even some information that can be filed under “useful.” It’s a great way to get stuff off your chest and for many a chance to see their name in print and wonder if they should have gone to J school, the better to change the world.

I feel like Thomas Paine in a way. He too worked for free. There endeth that tie except that he was pretty passionate about his pamphleteering. The free press is a really good thing and I worry that we take it for granted. Buckley’s firing is a symbol of those who would curtail that right and practice, that makes America a place of envy to many.

All to say, Buckley’s got nothin’ on the Pigge when it comes to getting canned.