HATE SPEECH: IT SEEMS TO BE OK FOR LIBERALS TO USE

Can anyone fairly deny that when it comes to name calling, insults and innuendo, conservatives are fair game? They are called racists and anti-Semites and are said to be worthy of death, but no one seems to consider such words hate speech or even inappropriate.

Last Friday on CBS's "The Late Show with Craig Kilborn," a violent graphic flashed briefly on the screen. The words "Snipers Wanted" was superimposed over footage of George W. Bush accepting the Republican nomination at his party's convention in Philadelphia.

In response to complaints, CBS admitted that the display was "an inappropriate and regrettable graphic" and that CBS and its program producer Worldwide Pants Inc. "deeply regret this incident" and would investigate it. Bush, in his usually gracious way, accepted the apology, and said he looks forward to seeing the results of CBS's investigation.

To me, this is not a laughing matter. You can bet no one would have been laughing had Al Gore been the target of the "clip." Heads ought to roll at CBS.

Is this not reminiscent of militantly liberal film star (excuse the redundancy) Alec Baldwin's call to violence against Henry Hyde and his family on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"? "I'm thinking to myself if we were in other countries, we would all, right now, all of us together, ... would go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death! ..."

You cannot credibly contend that with that language Baldwin was kidding.

An arguably more subtle statement was made by CBS's Dan Rather in his recent commentary about Al Gore's selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate. "The prevailing logic in the Democratic camp has been, anyone who won't vote for a Gore-Lieberman ticket because Lieberman is Jewish wouldn't have voted for it in the first place." I don't know if Rather was speaking for himself or other proud owners of "the prevailing logic," but his statement bears scrutiny.

Let's break it down. Anyone who won't vote for Gore-Lieberman because Lieberman is Jewish is obviously anti-Semitic. These anti-Semites wouldn't have voted for Gore-Lieberman in the first place. The only people who wouldn't have voted for them in the first place are Republicans. Therefore, Republicans are anti-Semitic.

On "The Early Show" Tuesday, Bryant Gumbel, referring to Lieberman's Judaism, asked his guest, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, "Do you fully expect Republicans, however quietly, however strategically, to try to make it an issue?" Anti-Semitism isn't the only charge, as we all know. Democratic National Committee general chairman Ed Rendell, referring to the Republican convention, said, "No four-day convention can overcome decades of Republican neglect of African-Americans." This isn't just a "sticks and stones may break my bones" thing. False charges of bigotry and racism are very damaging. So are calls to violence, even if made by those self-exalting leftist brats in Hollywood who seem to escape all scrutiny because of their allegiance to the politically correct ideology.

When you think about it, aren't these false charges of racism almost as odious as racism itself? Isn't the chief complaint about so-called hate speech that it incites people to violence? Well, doesn't it appear that these false charges are doing the same thing, i.e., inciting people to violence? Or is it OK if the objects of their calls to violence are conservatives? I truly wish someone on the left would either explain why it is acceptable to label conservatives as bigots or publicly denounce those of their brethren who engage in this despicable practice.

~David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.