They’re organizing–shouldn’t we?

Tell these Congresspeople NOW:

You are an American! Start ACTING like an American!! Support FREE SPEECH!!!

County Executive Dow Constantine: KCExec@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-4040
Councilmember Bob Ferguson: Bob.Ferguson@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1001
Councilmember Larry Gossett: Larry.Gossett@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1002
Councilmember Kathy Lambert: Kathy.Lambert@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1003
Councilmember Larry Phillips: Larry.Phillips@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1004
Councilmember Julia Patterson: Julia.Patterson@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1005
Councilmember Jane Hague: Jane.Hague@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1006
Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer: Pete.vonReichbauer@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1007
Councilmember Reagan Dunn: Reagan.Dunn@kingcounty.gov | 206-296-1009

Council Members von Reichbauer, Dunn and Hague,

It has come to my attention that some of you have began to respond to pressure by various organizations to censor a bus ad campaign by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign.

Please note that this would be a great error in judgment and a reprehensibly un-American course of action. The message presented advertisement in question, is a documented fact, backed by every major human-rights organization in the world (such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, etc), local Israeli human rights organizations (such as B’Tselem, Peace Now, etc) as well as every significant impartial investigations into the matter (such as the Goldstone report).

The validity of the message is not even in dispute, as even its opponents have not disputed the stated facts but rather have claimed that it presents a “one-sided view”.

The opposition to the ads is based precisely on the fact that the truth of the message is in fact self-evident and sufficiently documented. As Thomas Jefferson once noted to eloquently, “Truth will do well enough if left to shift for herself. She seldom has received much aid from the power of great men to whom she is rarely known & seldom welcome. She has no need of force to procure entrance into the minds of men. Error indeed has often prevailed by the assistance of power or force. Truth is the proper & sufficient antagonist to error.”

Note that no one is asking you to endorse or back the bus ads or their (undeniably true) message. You are only asked to allow an argument to be made and to permit the truth of the matter to emerge from the process of debate, discussion, and observation.

In truth, freedom of speech is the government’s tolerance of ideas which are found to be, not only controversial, but axiomatically false. That the uncontroversial truth should not be censored should be self-evident.

Please resist the nefarious demands of those pressuring you to become the “power or force” lending your assistance for the prevalence of an error, with such destructive and tragic human consequences.

Poyan Nahrvar