Even private thoughts are now punishable

The Thought Police in George Orwell's nightmarish Oceania of "1984" fame are alive and well. Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, has been slapped down hard for harboring disapproved thoughts.

In a taped telephone conversation he revealed his despicable racist thoughts. But his "crime" was not in speaking his racist mind, freedom of speech being protected by the Constitution. His "crime" was reprehensible thinking. That is why the Thought Police and their minions demanded his blood. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fell right in line and banned him for life from the NBA, nailed him with a $2.5 million fine, and imposed other penalties.

President Obama got it right in his reaction to the news of Sterling's disapproved thoughts when he said, "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything. You just let them talk," expressing confidence that Silver "would do the right thing." But Silver did the wrong thing. He knuckled under to the dictates of the Thought Police, punishing Sterling for his "thought crime," for which he is applauded.

Witness the triumphant commentary by Michael Wilbon, NBA analyst for ABC and ESPN: "We're going to have zero tolerance ... on this sort of language, this sort of mean-spirited language, even if it's in the privacy of one's home or in a private conversation. There is no privacy any more. We're not going to tolerate this ... and for now, almost everyone ... seems to be in agreement with it." That is a chilling commentary on life in America today.

Don Frost

Davis, Ill.