A sad day has come for New Yorkers and others dedicated to the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution. Nat Hentoff has written his last column for the Village Voice. Like other print newspapers, the Village Voice is suffering from the competition of the digital media and the overall economy. With two other longtime writers, Hentoff was dropped. http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-01-07/columns/nat-hentoff-s-last-column-the-50-year-veteran-says-goodbye/
I have not always agreed with Hentoff’s columns on politics or jazz, but I have always found them well-written and interesting.
He has been driven by the logic of his principles to reach conclusions that may suprise some. He has been devoted to the BIll of Rights, especially the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of speech and religion. He is a First Amendment absolutist, which is to say that he follows the Constitution.
Recently, I was pleased see that he understands that the Second Amendment means what is says and that gun ownership is an individual, not a collective right. "As Brian Doherty so clearly demonstrates in Gun Control on Trial, were it not for the rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment—and reaffirmed, in this inside account, by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller—we would forfeit our individual right to survive." To take such an unorthodox position must cost him friends. If only the ACLU would join him.
Fortunately, the many admirers of Hentoff will still find him writing and speaking up for the Bill of Rights–and good jazz.
"I’m still writing. In 2009, the University Press of California will publish my At the Jazz Band Ball: 60 Years on the Jazz Scene, and, later in the year, a sequel to The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance will be out on Seven Stories Press with the title Is This America? And I’ll be breaking categories elsewhere, including in my weekly syndicated United Media column, which reaches 250 papers, and my jazz and country music pieces in The Wall Street Journal."
Let us hope that we will have many more years of Nat Hentoff taking on the authoritarians amongst us. -30-
(About the author: Richard Cooper is a international trade executive with a manufacturing firm on Long Island, New York, USA. He is active in the Libertarian Party on eminent domain and other issues. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of New York www.ny.lp.org)
Some other articles of mine you may find of interest:
Female Chinese Land Seizure Protesters Stripped Naked & Jailed
https://groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2869669
Obama Switches On Wiretapping & Telecom Immunity https://groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2864284
Columbia University Obtains Eminent Domain Land Grab In Harlem https://groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2877150
Sandinista Assault On Human Rights Marchers Highlights Worldwide Hypocrisy https://groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2876569