Are We Still in America? Yes - Free Speech Included

Today's Star Tribune reported on an odd confrontation at a Minnesota Senate hearing on Tuesday.

A U of M civil engineering professor, Julian Marshall, was beginning his testimony on some research findings about reducing carbon emissions and the number of miles driven in Minnesota, and thought he would lighten things up by showing a slide that juxtaposed the classic World War II car sharing poster with the more recent Bill Maher book cover.

Watch out, professor Marshall -- that is a dangerous and un-American thing to say, or even think, despite the fact that it was a common idea, promulgated by U.S. Printing Office during World War II. Senator Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, interrupted Marshall, exclaiming, "Are we still in America?" and saying that the graphics were offensive "to every person who drives a car."

As one commenter on the Strib site put it, "It seems the people most in need of parody least appreciate it."