So, the leader of the House Homeland Security Committee is going to attempt to prosecute the New York Times for releasing secret information regarding "National Security." As expected, conservatives throughout the country are dancing with glee, and thus proving their own short-sightedness. When you take away a newspaper's right to print the truth, no matter how much you may or may not like what it says, you're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Sure, it may make things easier for the Bush Administration to do as they wish with the media out of the way, but keep in mind, you won't be in office forever. If this administration effectively shut down all dissent across the board, what would happen when the left takes over at some point? It may not be 2008, but it WILL happen, and surely no one is naive enough to suspect that it won't. Where will your checks and balances then be?
However, the most important point here has to be the clear-cut evidence of how little respect that the modern day right-wing has for the United States Constitution. Do you remember the document? It was something mentioned to us in grade school, a few of us have actually even read it once or twice. Unfortunately, most haven't and thus the shredding of the U.S. Constitution just flies right over their heads. So, just in case you've convinced yourself that any legal action from the Attorney General on this issue would be acceptable, let me share a couple of things with you:
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right... and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers.
John Adams
A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law (1765)
The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Colonel Edward Carrington (January 16, 1787)
Sure, it may make things easier for the Bush Administration to do as they wish with the media out of the way, but keep in mind, you won't be in office forever. If this administration effectively shut down all dissent across the board, what would happen when the left takes over at some point? It may not be 2008, but it WILL happen, and surely no one is naive enough to suspect that it won't. Where will your checks and balances then be?
However, the most important point here has to be the clear-cut evidence of how little respect that the modern day right-wing has for the United States Constitution. Do you remember the document? It was something mentioned to us in grade school, a few of us have actually even read it once or twice. Unfortunately, most haven't and thus the shredding of the U.S. Constitution just flies right over their heads. So, just in case you've convinced yourself that any legal action from the Attorney General on this issue would be acceptable, let me share a couple of things with you:Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right... and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers.
John Adams
A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law (1765)
The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Colonel Edward Carrington (January 16, 1787)
posted by Cory | 5:53 AM
3 Comments:
Should be noted that this wasn't just a right wing effort. Democrats including that right winger John Murtha ask them not to run it also.
That is all.
I told them not to run it. For I AM SPARTICUS!!!
Asking and demanding treason charges happen to be too terribly different things. I'm not in opposition to someone voicing an opinion on the issue, just the idea of considering this a criminal act.
I don't remember Murta trying to press charges. And by the way, sign your damn posts if you're going to be anonymous.
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