Let Them Have Their Say

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Has anyone heard about this abortion thing? I mean, there’s probably an issue here – you know, two sides and everything – but apparently nobody’s really heard much about it, this whole abortion matter.

As you may know, some people are really upset because a commercial about this issue is scheduled to air this Sunday during the Super Bowl. They want to stop the ad. I guess those people must figure that no one knows much about that abortion thing, so they fear everyone in the whole country is going to be persuaded by that one commercial. Maybe they’re right. Admit it: Your mind is like a completely empty slate about this whole abortion thingee, isn’t it? Yes, you are very susceptible to being brainwashed by that one Super Bowl ad.

I mean, it’d be different if we’d been debating this issue, this abortion thing, for decades and the whole matter had gone to the Supreme Court or something like that. Gee, it’s a shame this ad is coming along now and absolutely forcing everyone to think one way on this issue before we had the chance to hear both sides.

Say, there’s an idea. Instead of trying to stop this ad from airing, maybe we should get to hear both sides of this issue. That means that the folks who don’t like that abortion ad could make their own ad. They could work on it, really hone their message and make their best pitch to the American people. Try to persuade us, you know. That way, all of us could decide for ourselves.

OK, so maybe that’s a wacky idea. It would mean we’d have to allow free speech in this country. We’d have to have a long cultural acceptance of differing opinions. We the people would have to be trusted to think for ourselves. Have debate, free elections and such.

Nah. Probably better just to strong-arm CBS into killing the ad. We can’t allow some organization to just go around feeling free to express its opinion.

You know, this whole thing about the ad on the Super Bowl is a lot like the Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow companies and unions and such to spend more freely on advertisements for political candidates and issues.

That decision has caused all kind of heartburn, too, and it even prompted the president to stage a finger-wagging scolding of the Supreme Court justices at the State of the Union Address last week.

With good reason. I mean, think of the impudence of American businesses. Just because they provide jobs, pay taxes and create wealth and everything, do they really think they have the right to express their opinion? Who do they think they are? American citizens?

Who knows, maybe some company would actually make a good point for once in one of these new ads. Wouldn’t you hate to see that? Wouldn’t you hate to see people persuaded by a good point or at least accept a different point of view? Life is so much tidier when minds are closed.

And there’s another matter. With hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new political ads that are expected to run this year because of the new Supreme Court ruling, do you know who’s going to prosper? Yes, media companies. TV stations and Web sites and radio stations. And so will the advertising firms that help the companies produce their ads.

Since a pretty good collection of those kinds of companies are hereabouts, Los Angeles is bound to prosper from this Supreme Court decision. Wouldn’t you hate to see that? Local companies making money from free speech? Boy, you can almost imagine the return of those traffic jams we had when the unemployment rate was less than 13 percent.

By the way, I’m going to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Maybe I’ll see that ad, too. And just for the record, my mind was made up long ago. I’m rooting for the Saints.

Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].

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