Sunday Sermonette

Apparently, there was once a time when reporters spoke truth to power. Edward R. Murrow on March 9, 1954:

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.          

This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a   republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay     amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it -- and rather successfully. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

          Good night, and good luck.

Here endeth the lesson.

Comments

[Caligula]

well, cling to your mythology about the
"Reign of Terror," but the Venona Transcripts tell us who was fundamentally
correct.......

[MacBearTwo]

Yeh but....the links to Julius and Ethel are still pretty weak. There seems little doubt that Julius was involved in some manner but maybe Ethel not so much. Anybody who thinks the Patriot Act is a good thing should look at the Espionage Act and how it was used in this case.

[doctor(logic)]

BTW, the movie is really excellent. Probably the best movie I've seen this year.