Oliver North, Ice-T and the U.S. Constitution
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How Oliver North must miss the “Commies,” for he obviously wants to be another A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general under Woodrow Wilson.
In 1919, Palmer used the Alien and Sedition Act as well as the Espionage Act of 1917 to have thousands of political dissidents and radicals rounded up and held without charge here in the United States. His actions later become known later as the infamous “Palmer Raids” or Red Scare of 1920. His abuse of civil liberties was a blot on the history of this country.
Palmer was looking for Bolsheviks, a breed I’m sure North wishes were still around as a convenient target for his witch hunts, and since they are not, he has decided to launch a McCarthyesque campaign against black rap artist Ice-T.
I have news for North: This has been tried before and it won’t work; no matter how outraged he and Dan Quayle may feel about Ice-T’s lyrics, they are protected by the First Amendment.
MICHAEL BEAR
San Diego
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