Not long ago, I watched a 1976 movie called “The Front.”

It starred Woody Allen, though he did not write or direct it. the film takes place in early 1950s America when the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. was heating up. During this time, the U.S. government was worried about communist sympathizers among the people trying to subvert America. If you were deemed a communist sympathizer, you were “blacklisted,” making it virtually impossible to get a job.

In the movie, Mr. Allen poses as a writer selling scripts to various producers. These were scripts written by blacklisted writers. Mr. Allen is a front for these writers and gets a percentage of each sale. Eventually, the government becomes suspicious of Mr. Allen and calls him before a committee to name names. He refuses and tells the committee to go “screw” themselves. (He used a different word in the movies).

Mr. Allen is jailed, but he becomes a hero in the eyes of many.

Fast forward 70 years to today. Similar things are happening, but the roles have been reversed. In the 1950s, we had people investigating communist sympathizes. today, we have communist sympathizers investigating people. Political correctness, cancel culture and identity politics is out of control. If this troubles you and you mention it, you run the risk of being censored, job loss or both. This is after you’ve been labeled a racist, bigot, domestic terrorist and insurrectionist. You’ve been blacklisted.

What really bothers me is why our leaders and especially private sector CEOS continue to kowtow to all this nonsense. Our leaders remain quiet and CEOS change brand names and logos. These people have zero courage.

In the movie, Mr. Allen says we just need someone to say no. We need someone to say enough is enough. That someone can’t come soon enough.

— Allan Gilmour

Salisbury