JUSTIN FRANK MD

My last Time column was June 14, I’m sorry to say.  That particular column was seen as too inflammatory and “slanted” because I explored why Mitt Romney is so comfortable telling lies.  One reason, I wrote, was that he used his Mormon faith to help him believe that he wasn’t in fact lying.  This idea was seen by some readers as a bigoted attack on Mormonism, and Time bowed to pressure from various right-wing groups.  So, despite the column being part of Time “Ideas” – a section explicitly for controversial ideas and thoughts – I was told I had to stop.  There was no explicit pressure on Time from the Romney “people”, however.

It has been a great pleasure to work on these columns and to work with my truly fine editor there, Ruth Konigsberg, who tried to stand up to the powers that be.  The institution, it seems, is not too different from many others, including the US Congress where at least 30 Democrats are so frightened of the NRA that they will vote to censure Attorney General Holder.  This is where we live today.

I appreciate the comments some of you sent over these months, and I’ll be writing more in the near future.  Perhaps one day I can even return to Time itself.  Who knows?