The Washington Times: The fear that continues to consume journalists

“...Mr. Rose’s life is now forever marked by the Cartoon Crisis. He’s had about a decade to reflect on some daunting questions, including, “What do you say to people who ask how you can sleep at night when hundreds of people have died because of what you have done?”
His book-length answer to that question is impressive. “The Tyranny of Silence” is one of the three or four best books that the libertarian Cato Institute has ever had a hand in publishing — up there with Gene Healy’s “The Cult of the Presidency” and Jonathan Rauch’s other free speech classic, “The Kindly Inquisitors.” Not coincidentally, the back cover of Mr. Rose’s work carries an endorsement by Mr. Rauch, which begins, “Should I be afraid to blurb this book? Reading it makes me wonder.”
The book is not so much a rousing defense of freedom of expression as an exploration of what happens when journalists cave in to the censors, the would-be ayatollahs, the placard wavers or just the ordinary decent people who don’t understand why we can’t all be nicer. It documents a ratchet effect more pronounced in Muslim countries and communities but present in every society. Some folks claim offense, they are conciliated, the conciliations are passed into law, and this only emboldens more people to be outraged...”
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