The Words of Murrow.. (Revisited)

I was reminded of the words of Edward R. Murrow while watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight. They are worth revisiting yet again..
I first posted this October 30, 2007.

These words, and the wisdom behind them, are as relevant now as they were in the ’50s when they were uttered – in another time, with another boogeyman meant to instill fear in American citizens.. Now instead of the Communists, we have ‘Islamofascists’ and al Qaeda.
Will we as a nation ever learn?

Quotes from Edward R. Murrow

See It Now (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. “

Speech to his staff (1954)

“No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.”

“If none of us ever read a book that was “dangerous,” had a friend who was “different,” or joined an organization that advocated “change,” we would all be just the kind of people Joe McCarthy wants.”

“The only thing that counts is the right to know, to speak, to think— that, and the sanctity of the courts. Otherwise it’s not America.”

RTNDA Convention Speech (1958)

“We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.”

The closest we come to Edward R. Murrow, in this place in history, is with Keith Olbermann. He is not Murrow, but the next best thing. Actually, it isn’t fair to compare them. The times and circumstances are different. Keith Olbermann seems to be one of the only people on the MSM news networks willing to speak truth to power; to be the voice of the American people who are all yelling at their TV sets (and at their Congressional representatives) in rage and frustration. I know he has reduced me to tears on a number of occasions with his ‘Special Comments’, because he has said exactly what I was thinking and feeling. I think this country is STARVING and READY for someone in the press (and Congress) to stand up, ask the hard questions, call the administration on their crap, and put it all on the line to fight for what is right and true – for the Constitution, for our democracy, for the laws of this land and for justice, regardless of the cost. Our nation is on the precipice, and it is time, really, for courage and the strength to put it all the line for what is right for our entire country.

All of Keith Olbermann’s ‘Special Comments‘ are available on the MSNBC website.

If you have any Murrow quotes you would like to add, please feel free to do so in your comments.

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Bush/Cheney linkup “very sinister”

Source of “very sinister” quote.

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World

Come on now.. Group hug..

Photo by ciamabue. Used with permission.

Huh..?

Clinton Surrogate Ed Rendell Praises Fox News For “Most Objective,” “Balanced” Coverage – HT: The Huffington Post

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a strong supporter and prominent surrogate of the Hillary Clinton campaign, appeared on Fox News’ morning show “Fox & Friends” today and praised the network for its “objective” and “balanced” coverage.

“I think during this entire primary coverage, starting in Iowa and up to the present, Fox has done the fairest job, has remained the most objective of all the cable networks,” Rendell told host Steve Doocy. “You actually have done a very balanced job of reporting the news, and some of the other stations are just caught up with Senator Obama, who is a great guy, but Senator Obama can do no wrong, and Senator Clinton can do no right.”

Doocy told Rendell, “I just had a tingling in my leg when you were talking about that,” a reference to MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who has been criticized for unfairly treating Hillary Clinton and who once announced on air that he felt a “thrill going up his leg” during an Obama speech.

Vodpod videos no longer available. from www.huffingtonpost.com posted with vodpod

Bush’s Legacy Leads to Iran

Heather Wokusch (H/T: OpEdNews):

The lack of oversight characterizing both the Bush administration and crony capitalism have bankrupted the U.S. and created the need for perpetual war. With Cheney stirring up trouble over Iran, we can’t wait until November 2008 to fight back.

Heather Wokusch is the author of “The Progressives’ Handbook“.

The Chimp looks forward to the “romance” of the Olympics…

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Jack Ohman, Portland Oregonian

Russians, Saudis Expect U.S. Attack On Iran

Photo of Tehran

by Paul Craig Roberts
via: OpEdNews

The US Congress, the US media, the American people, and the United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack on Iran.

If only America had an independent media and an opposition party. If there were a shred of integrity left in American political life, perhaps a third act of naked aggression–a third war crime under the Nuremberg standard–by the Bush Regime could be prevented.

On March 30, the Russian News & Information Agency, Novosti, cited a high-ranking security source: “The latest military intelligence data point to heightened US military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran.”

According to Novosti, Russian Colonel General Leonid Ivashov said “that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran’s military infrastructure in the near future.”

The chief of Russia’s general staff, Yuri Baluyevsky, said last November that Russia was beefing up its military in response to US aggression, but that the Russian military is not “obliged to defend the world from the evil Americans.”

On March 29, OpEdNews cited a report by the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz, which was picked up by the German news service, DPA. The Saudi newspaper reported on March 22, the day following Cheney’s visit with the kingdom’s rulers, that the Saudi Shura Council is preparing “national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts’ warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactors.”

And Admiral William “there will be no attack on Iran on my watch” Fallon has been removed as US chief of Central Command, thus clearing the way for Cheney’s planned attack on Iran. [My emphasis]

The Iranians don’t seem to believe it, despite the dispatch of US nuclear submarines and another aircraft carrier attack group to the Persian Gulf. To counter any Iranian missiles launched in response to an attack, the US is deploying anti-missile defenses to protect US bases and Saudi oil fields.

Two massive failures by the American media, the Democratic Party, and the American people have paved the way for Cheney’s long-planned attack on Iran. One failure is the lack of skepticism about the US government’s explanation of 9/11. The other failure is the Democrats’ refusal to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush for lying to the Congress, the American people, and the world and launching an invasion of Iraq based on deception and fabricated evidence.

If an American president can start a war exactly as Adolf Hitler did with pure lies and not be held accountable, he can get away with anything. And Bush and his evil regime have.

Hitler launched World War II with his invasion of Poland after staging a “Polish attack” on a German radio station. On the night of August 31, 1939, a group of Nazis disguised in Polish uniforms seized a radio station in Germany. Hitler announced that “last night Polish troops crossed the frontier and attacked Germany,” a claim no more true than the Bush Regime’s claim that “Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.” Hitler’s lie failed, because his invasion of Poland, which began the next day allegedly in reprisal for the Polish attack, had obviously been planned for many months.

Iran is a beautiful and developed country. It is an ancient civilization. It has attacked no one. Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Iran is permitted by the treaty to have a nuclear energy program. The Bush Regime’s case against Iran is based on the Bush Regime’s desire to deny Iran its rights under the treaty.

Read entire article…

Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, has been reporting shocking cases of prosecutorial abuse for two decades. A new edition of his book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, co-authored with Lawrence Stratton, a documented account of how Americans lost the protection of law, is forthcoming from Random House in March, 2008.For lots more photos of Tehran, go here. And for photos of Iran, go here.