Shouting Down The World

IT'S A GOOD THING somebody yelled at Caspar Weinberger, what the protestors did was praiseworthy.

To tout the heckling of the Secretary of Defense as an attack on the principle of free speech, as the majority has done it its editorial, seems more than a little bit strange. Secretary Weinberger has at his disposal untold millions of dollars that can go toward airing the point of view of the Reagan Administration. Weinberger also has a corps of reporters around him to relay his every thought to the front pages of newspapers, the covers of magazines and the major wire services. The Secretary, in short, has virtually unlimited access to all the major media, a "freedom of speech" not available to most Americans.

At Harvard, the volume of heckling went down significantly each time the protesters were asked for quiet, and all of Weinberger's remarks could be heard clearly on the WHRB simuleast. What the majority opinion doesn't address is the basic imbalance of "free speech" dramatized by the forum. Weinberger, with all the resources already available to him, came to Harvard not to debate issues but, as the majority puts it, "to give a standard speech" on the Administration's intents.

The majority opinion tries to raise fears about what the hecklers would do if they got power. This makes little sense, since the hecklers were not an organized group seeking power, but a disorganized collection of various groups and individuals who dislike the Administration's policies and felt they had little choice but to sound their disapproval in a number of different ways.

The hecklers are criticized for shouting at Weinberger without any mention of a key fact: Weinberger can and does express himself daily, while theme who opposive his use of their fax dollars must go to unusual lenghts to attract any attention at all from the news media. Moreover, it should be recognized that some people refuse on ethical grounds to allow as objections. Ble an official as Casper Weinberger in come and go without somehow making their opposition knows, Weinberger as used our tax dollars to invade another country, to divert the nation's wealth from human needs to every manner and other disastrous policies. Most galling of all, tax money is used to pay for the massive volume of public statements and press briefings by which Weinberger justifies the government's actions. It is commendable that a few people refund to ignore the dictates of their consciences and common sense by sitting before Weinberger in obedient silence or hissing in traditional Harvard style.

Those truly concerned that they may have missed a vitally important part of the Reagan Administration's line last week need only contact the Pentagon's bureau of information or read the papers to hear the Weinberger view. If we are sincerely to be concerned that no one gets shouted down, however, then we must recognize what the opinion above has ignored--that Weinberger, through the power of his office, can effectively shout down his critics 365 days a year.