THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

JOHN ROCKER RETURNS TO REBEL YELLS | 2000-03-25

John Rocker, the baseball player for Atlanta, made politically incorrect remarks about New York City. Those liberals in baseball who claim they love free speech suspended him for it.

When he returned from suspension, he received a standing ovation from the fans. They cheered, they roared, they rebel-yelled.

Funny, I didn't see much about that in press, which has faithfully reported every condemnation of Rocker.

People, real people, don't like political correctness. Real people consider political correctness a lot more of a threat to their own freedom of speech than any bigoted remarks by a baseball player might be. So when the libs condemned Rocker, he became a hero to the fans.

So while respectable conservatives crawl and drool at every media condemnation, they could gain popularity by standing on their hind legs and defending the rights of those who offend the left.

Don't hold your breath until that happens.