The value of American freedoms
Over four decades of scribbling, lampooning political figures, offering snarky observations on the ineptitude of government and poking fun at the self-important, bloviating big shots of society, it never occurred to me that I had anything to fear for my ramblings. It is the United States after all, where free expression, free speech and a free press are treasured freedoms, liberties I all too blithely took for granted.
Besides, I was having too much fun.
A few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks while working as a columnist for the Tampa Tribune, I had scratched out a rather critical piece about President George W. Bush. I don't remember the topics. There was so much material.
As I settled into my desk, a few feet away sat an intern, Birusk Tugan. He was a refugee, a Turkish Kurd, who as a journalist in Istanbul had been forced to flee his homeland.
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/ruth-the-value-of-american-freedoms/2313359