Stanley Kurtz wrote a book and went out into the world to plug it. That's what authors do, to sell more books. Can't very well make a sale if no one knows your material is out there.
The problem is, he wrote a book about Barack Obama and that man's ties to William Ayres. He was plugging his non-fiction tome on a radio show in Chicago, and the Obama Action Wire was put to the task of silencing Stanley Kurtz.
Extremists at either end of the spectrum are so much alike as to be twins.
They flooded WGN Radio's switchboard with calls, to protest Mr. Kurtz's ability to speak freely in public, which effectively did nothing to change the radio talk show, but did aggravate the ordinary people who had to spend their time answering the calls. They crammed the e-mail inbox with complaints. No one, however, called in to debate with Mr. Kurtz, which was the whole point of the radio program. Better to try to silence all debate, to hog all the phone lines, than permit free speech and rational discussion.
But did WGN learn their lesson? Apparently not, because the radio show then hosted David Freddoso, who also had written a book that was not a paean to Barack Obama. And so, the Obama Action Wire went into action, to complain to WGN and clog the phone lines and stuff the e-mail box.
Don't tell them it smacks of fascism, to try to stifle free speech. Don't tell them that their tactics suggest a fear that the truth will come out, thereby lending more credence to the very authors they believe have distorted the truth. Like most spoiled children, they won't listen, and they'll have their temper tantrum while the adults go on about their business.
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