Page seven of today’s Badger Herald contains a paid advertisement advocating what many will surely consider an extreme position regarding the peace protests here in Madison and around the country. The advertisement, paid for by David Horowitz, is being published in dozens of student newspapers around the nation this week.

I hope and expect many of our readers will take issue with the advertisement’s contents.

Horowitz is the nation’s foremost media whore — his advertisements are designed to be inflammatory and attention-grabbing. He hopes student newspapers will refuse to carry his message; thereby exposing an underlying bias against free speech on college campuses. At The Badger Herald, no such bias exists — we try very hard to publish a wide array of ideas.

Americans are at war to defend our way of life. We are united in ending terrorism, even as we disagree on the method. It is important that Horowitz does not succeed in dividing our community or convincing us to restrict civil liberties.

As much as many of us disagree with Horowitz, it says something about our nation that ideas like his — no matter how divisive — may be espoused in a public forum.

In the spirit of providing such a forum, we will expand our Opinion section next week as much as we can to accommodate opinions on the content of this ad. We will also create a special feedback section on our webpage so that everyone can post their immediate reaction to the advertisement.

Horowitz has presented his opinions.

We look forward to publishing yours.

Sincerely,

Alexander Conant, Editor in Chief