Of Flintlocks, Quill Pens and Background Checks

From a letter to the editor in the Indianapolis Star:

"In counter, I'd like to suggest a five-day waiting period on publication, while the government background checks facts for accuracy, after which time Hammerle can spout off in a paper he prints with lead type and distributed on horseback, just as our Founders intended."

Mr. Williamson makes a good point, though it is one with which I disagree as a former journalist. Still, it is a compelling argument. And for good measure, I will throw in that news stories should be composed with quill pens because the Framers never envisioned CRTs and laptop computers for writing. Nor could they have ever seen a day when news organizations would spray opinion (aka speech) at an unsuspecting public with rapid-fire web sites and e-mails.

And before anyone suggests that newspapers are not as dangerous as lawfully owned firearms, I would remind you . . . . newspapers have enflamed wars, if not started them entirely.