This letter is in reference to the article “Payment conflicts within tour company result in protest” which appeared on Page A1 of the Sept. 8 edition of the Empire and was written by Jonathan Grass.
Lawrence Dupler and I are both veterans who have served multiple tours of duty in Vietnam and Desert Storm; we fought for American rights including freedom of speech. However, I don’t know when that amendment allowed for slanderous and liable (sic) comments linking a woman-owned, minority, small business owner whose company is uninvolved, to be targeted with a protest in the attempt to give it more power. Freedoms of one American are not there to cross the line and step on another American’s freedom to operate a business.
One person’s right to freedom of speech does not allow for the right to hassle the innocent. The implied intention here is to clearly cause lost business for a company that has no involvement in the mentioned issues and therefore no way to resolve any perceived problem. Freedom of speech is not the right or freedom to attack another American’s freedom.
My advice is, if you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar; work out your dispute with the owner of the company involved.
Richard Bailey
Juneau
