64 thoughts on “Blog #19 – Good Night and Good Luck”

1. Fred Ayres May 19, 2011 at 9:42 pm

   See It Now:

   In this broadcast, I am reminded sharply of Donald Trump. Good ol’ Don raised the issue of the lack of birth certificate for Barack Obama. Before Trump hopped into the ring, it had never been that big of an issue. Suddenly, everyone and their mom cared about whether or not Obama had really been born in the US. Furthermore, if he was born within the confines of the Land of the Brave, why didn’t he want anyone looking at his birth certificate? “His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism,” Similar to McCarthy, Trump’s sole purpose was convincing people of Obama’s dishonestly. Before, it was an issue that didn’t have any basis or relevance. Now, it was a hot-button issue, sure to sway the masses. Thankfully, Obama finally released his certificate of live birth and Donald Trump was silenced.

   Ford 50th Anniversary Show:

   In this short passage, I am instantly drawn to the Westboro Baptist Church. They are an extremely homophobic fundamentalist church that takes the Holy Bible quite literally. They have made a point of it to protest military funerals and even fellow churches, most of the time, for no good reason. Joe McCarthy usually had no concise evidence to back up any of his claims. If the Westboro Baptist Church hates gays, why don’t they hate shaving, work on Sunday, and women not wearing head coverings? It’s all right there, next to the verses on homophobia. But, in the end, they are welcomed to say what they want. We have the right of free speech. No matter what the hateful and moronic nature of the speech is, it is one of the founding freedoms that we have. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” The fighters for freedom surely didn’t have gay-bashers in mind, but freedom is freedom.

   Radio-News TV Directors Speech:

   My goodness, the intent of this speech still rings true today. We have become absorbed by the television and media and technology. Recently, I read an article about neuroscientists having discovered that certain people get religious-like feelings from electronics, namely Apple computers. “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,” It seems Mr. Murrow’s wish has never come true and will never come true. We people have been essentially brainwashed by what we see on the TV and in the media. We dress a certain way because the media portrays a new style of fashion. We think a certain way because of how the media presents something. It’s sad. It’s downright disturbing. I used to have hope that the future would be something different; a semi-utopia of sorts. It’s a fool’s dream. As Karl Marx once said, “Religion is the opium of the people.” Now, it seems, television is the carcinogen.
2. hannah voigt (the one and only) May 21, 2011 at 2:00 pm

   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

   I remember asking my bubby (or grandmother for you gentiles) what an airport was like when she was young. She replied how there was very little security and people could board planes say goodbye to there loved ones and then get off the airplane before departure. I asked mom why we had to wait an hour in security. She said it is because people are afraid.

   Fear is natural and possibly the most primal instinct there is. Fear of dying, public speaking, fear of duck, they are all normal. But fear of people and races and ethintys different then yourselves can be dangerous. Like homophobes (short for homophobia or fear of the same), people who are afraid of homosexuals, and because of their fear stupid laws are past because people are afraid. As referring to the quote we should not walk in fear of those who are different than us. For it can only lead to hatred and chaos.

   every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us

   Part of what makes America great is that I can go to a public place, say a local coffee shop and sit down and loudly proclaim “republicans suck” assuming I am not sitting next to a conventional meeting of tea baggers I will not be beaten into a pulp, or dragged to jail. The basic freedoms of America set us aside from the other countries of the world. Without them we would not be the great nation that we are today (and I would move to Canada) in fact that is one of the first defenses in court cases, I said this because it is my right to do so. If freedoms are limited it is my belive that we will spiral into a dictatorship. And as you know Dictatorships are not really successful in any way shape or form. Therefore we should struggle to maintain our freedoms and defend our rights as Americans.

   Our history will be what we make it

   I like this quote because its short and to the point. Also because I believe it is sating a universal truth, the choices you make not only affect your future but the universes (I am not talking about simple decisions like weather or not you have mustered on your sandwich or mayonnaise) im talking about large, life changing choices, like the one you made to be a teacher, or the person you decided to vote for. This quote is a message to think carefully before you make a decision, for you could affect the world. (for example sending a large number of American troops into a country because you think they have nuclear weapons, not that I am implying anything.) This quote also applies on smaller scales. If what you
3. Sarah Szekely May 21, 2011 at 3:14 pm

   See it Now-
   “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.” This quote has passed through many of our minds as we see the situation in Iraq play out through our television sets, trying to help, even if they don’t want it, to win democracy over there against the al-Qaeda, but over here in America, where we have democracy and this so called freedom, events that lead me to believe against that happen every day. Bullying, protests, threats and the like happen against different races and sexuality all the time. The events that recently happened right down the street show the truth of that as well as the not as recent ban on gay marriages in several states. These are completely destroying the idea of freedom for these individuals who are just trying to be themselves. As the quote says, how can we try to support freedom in other countries when we don’t even have “freedom” here?

   Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show-
   This speech runs true through generations and generations past and probably present even though everyone would wish differently. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” This quote reminds me of events that happened recently involving the Westboro Baptist Church. They have an extreme stand on homosexuality and have the audacity to even protest a young soldier’s funeral just because he was gay. These actions certainly limit the freedom of that individual and individuals like him. They are just being themselves. Who are we to limit that when we, as a country, push so much for the freedom we offer and have fought for since the beginning of this country? Edward Murrow hit the nail on the head back then and I’m not sure if this will ever get better.

   Radio-Television News Directors Association-
   “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.” This speech and this quote is reflected by the, if I may say, idiotic television programming we have shown to us today. Reality television, mindless dramas and comedies and the news media itself have clouded our televisions. Most people don’t choose to learn from the resources they have like watching the History Channel or the Travel Channel to educate themselves; rather they choose to watch mind rotting programs like “Jersey Shore” or something equal to it. The news media doesn’t help with this much either. They tell of the world’s events but how much are they really showing is? There is always something they aren’t telling us, something they aren’t showing us that completely shields our minds from reality. These words are still true. We should use this tool to spread the truth and educate the sadly uneducated public instead of poisoning it further.
4. Eleanor Chalifoux May 21, 2011 at 11:54 pm

   In the See it Now broadcast from 1954 Edward Murrow spoke about Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. Many lines from this segment stood out to me. Murrow talked about how McCarthy has crossed over from investigating to persecuting multiple times and that the American people should not stay silent. Fear of the Red Scare should not lead us to persecution. Murrow said, “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.” Today we still like to think of ourselves as the defenders and bringers of freedom for many countries. We cannot forget about our citizens at home though. It was very contradictory for us to be fighting for freedom for citizens in other countries when a portion of our own citizens didn’t have full rights. African Americans were without equal rights throughout the 20th century when America was supposed to be all about freedom. Even today we work to help the less fortunate abroad when we have countless people here at home that need help.
   Edward Murrow was a very popular American journalist for CBS. In the Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show in 1953 he spoke of the morals of the American people. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” Too many people have spent their lives and worked hard to make America a place for freedom and safety. Our army is the reason we are all alive and free today. It’s hard to fight for freedom when others act negatively against it. We must not discourage each other. This negative attitude can be seen always unfortunately and today people need to stay positive and work toward our goal of freedom. He also touches on the importance of individuality. People are more accepted today when they are considered to be different. Back in this time period people who were considered to be different weren’t necessarily accepted in society. We have to be able to accept everyone and not deny equality in our own country.
   Edward Murrow spoke in Chicago for Radio-Television News Directors Association in 1958. He talked about publicity and how broadcasting companies give viewers what they want to hear and see and don’t give them the real facts. Referring to the television, Murrow said, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.” Television has a huge impact on the world. It is our source of information. We find out what’s happening around the world from news channels and take their word for it. Who knows what’s being covered up, sugarcoated or exaggerated? TV companies can’t just entertain, people want the facts. Not everyone may be interested in the non-dramatic entertaining version of what’s out there but at least it’s true. News stories today all seem to be dramatic so that they will be entertaining which is a shame. TV really is only wires and lights in a box and we have to choose how we will use it.
5. willy thompson May 22, 2011 at 12:00 am

   a) “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.” In the modern era, it seems that any conflict in the world has to be sorted out by the US. In Libya, the protestors wanted to overthrow their government, so in stepped big brother freedom to provide help. The US looks out instead of in, and when we look in we don’t have the freedom we preach. Freedom of religion was what brought us to America, but Muslims can’t build a mosque a few blocks from ground zero. That, to me, is not freedom. These are America citizens who are having their rights taken away from them because we view all Muslims as being terrorists. The freedom to marry someone of the same sex is also an example of how we in America are not truly free.
   b) “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” This quote really goes with the first passage that I talked about. When we preach to the world that democracy is the only way, and yet we restrict the freedoms of out citizens, we are hypocrites. In Tennessee, the new law regarding the word gay in schools is also restricting the rights of the US citizens. Taking away a child’s right at such a young age is just wrong. A child at this age doesn’t know what “gay” means, and telling them not to say the word “gay” is only going to make things worse. When you say don’t, children think do. Taking a child’s free speech makes us as Americans look rather stupid.
   c) “But that would be unpleasant. And we must at all costs shield the sensitive citizens from anything that is unpleasant.” We have just come out of, or debatably are still in, the “Great Recession.” The media has constantly said we are in a recession and things are looking better. Since 2008, I haven’t heard anyone say what’s happening in the world’s economies is a Depression in fear of sparking riots. It would be like yelling fire to a bunch of people in a fire, when they all couldn’t feel pain. In this day, it seems that there’s alot of censorship to prevent people from questioning the response of the government to the recession. Sometimes the truth hurts, and I can understand if a democratic government needs to censor news sometimes, and this quote from the Speech at Radio is always going to be relevant. Protecting the citizens sometimes is allowed.
6. Philip Johnson May 22, 2011 at 9:19 am

   1. “His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism”< This applies to our social and political issues today regarding the people from Arab countries. Ever since the attack on the twin towers on 9/11, whenever people see Arabs, especially on things like planes, many automatically either get frightened because they think that they’re terrorists, or they make jokes to their friends about the person probably being a terrorist. Even though the president isn’t advocating this to the public in our situation, it just seems to be natural, now, for Americans to assume that many Middle Eastern people that they see are terrorists. This is unfair, though, to all of those people because it isn’t there fault that people from their home countries attacked us. There is nothing that they can do about it, now, to revitalize their reputation because all Americans look at them as threats since many of the people who did attack America were seen as regular citizens until they did their damage.
   2. “if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status”<< I believe that this applies to our world today because even though race isn’t as big of an issue anymore as it was back then, most Americans try to make sure not to OPENLY display their dislike of the other races around America or even the world even though they may have those dislikes. We are attempting to make sure to make the reputation of our nation one of welcoming people that will treat everyone of all different races the same if they are to come to America. Everyone knows that America is a privileged place compared to some other countries, but the attitude of the people must stay positive. This will always be an on-going thing since America is a country that people of many races like to move to. If all Americans were blatantly speaking of their hatred for other races in America, then we would be looked at as a racist country and would lose our welcoming reputation.
   3. “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent.”<< I think that this agrees with some key aspects of today’s society because a lot of people like to just do the least possible that they can do to keep their life running smooth without leaving their comfort zone. If people come home from work or have finished their homework, they usually just resort to watching TV or doing something else lazy around their house when they could be out doing something to better themselves or to help other people. Many people, including myself at times, feel like if we’ve gotten all of our responsibilities out of the way, we should just lay around the house and relax, and our TV’s and video games and computers and other entertainment things around our house let us do this. They let us be lazy because they give us something to do around our house when we should be out doing better things.
7. Jake Rzeppa May 22, 2011 at 11:02 am

   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.”

   A modern parallel that this quote could apply to is the reaction and handling of the situation in the Middle East, post 9/11. Immediately after there was a sense of fear of paranoia, and our government assured us we get the bad guys, and we did, nearly a full decade later. There was also a sense of patriotism, but while those feelings of brotherhood and patriotism seemed to dissolve into steam a few months later, the nihilism and paranoia felt like it was here to stay. The actions of those in positions of power, the opportunism of contractors hired to work for the military, the constant flow of misinformation from what should have been reliable agencies fed a the public a steady diet of mistrust, it caused the public to allow it self to wiped into a frenzy, looking for anyone to take the blame. George Bush was in similar situation “He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully.” I don’t think Bush ever wanted a situation like the wars in the Middle East, I don’t think he even was trying to exploit anyone, but I think people of close to him, definitely were. So if he exploited anything at all it was unwittingly. And I definitely think it “caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies”

   if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.

   “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
   Yeah, that’s what it says the big green lady in New York, the statue of liberty. And its true, America is an amazing place, I often think about how beyond lucky I am to live here, I wouldn’t mind Canada, England, or France or other developed countries, but there is something special about us, as obnoxious and conceited as that may sound. Therese no doubt that even the worst parts of country are better then entire countries, a huge chunk of Africa is war torn, and poverty stricken, they would kill to live here, some people just kill to live in general. But that doesn’t excuse us from our long history of isolationism, and modern day bigots like the West Borrow Baptist Church, and Pastor Terry Jones. Our media is broadcasting world wide an America that feels it can do whatever it wants, simply because we’re “M’ericans” , they burn Qurans, inciting riots, and violence, it is a misuse of free speech, to spread hate and bigotry.

   But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.

   “LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.” Was pretty much the slogan of our country for the late decade and half. It’s the slogan that plunged us, the rest of the entire world into huge economic nose dive. The behavior continued, and only got worse, and the people the are responsible for it covered there eyes and yelled “ La, la, la, I cant hear you!”. They went back to their five 25,000 square foot summer homes, scattered across the world, their helicopters that they land on their private yachts, that were the size of ocean liners, and everyone else was left with the mess, because, hey, “Look now, pay later”
8. Brandon Herman May 22, 2011 at 12:07 pm

   See it now-
   In this passage i am immediately drawn to this quote. “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”. This statement has been true, will be true, and is currently now true. In our past this was true at many, many points. The first could have been the red scare of the 1917s. We were monsters. Killing people, turning them in to earn their jobs, and even the killing of 2 innocent men in a bias court case. Doesn’t this sound hypocritical? We go out saying democracy is the best, but then we do not even support it in our country. Isn’t there something very wrong in that message? This also happened in WW2. We actually locked up thousands of Japanese people in containment camps. We then went and said how horrible it was, and liberated the Jews. We also said that were the best democracy, but we were the same. We were locking people up due to racist fears. This is actually very much at play in the U.S now. It goes along with our tradition of helping over throw democratic leaders to put in the ones we favor a little more, even though the people don’t. This has happened in Libya, Afghanistan, Cuba, and Iran. Doesn’t this seem actually horrible? We say how good we are with free elections and other democratic values, but then we go support the over throw of other countries democratic leader. So in a sense how can we defend democracy abroad, if we do not even act to support it? Simply we cannot.

   Ford 50th Anniversary-
   In this small short speech there is one line that sticks out to me. It says “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” In this country this actually happens very frequently. People’s freedoms are constantly smashed, as people can be racist, sexist or homophobic. For instance the Westboro church petitioned a guy solider funeral. This is absolutely atrocious. And this makes a mockery of our desires for equal and freedom for all. It must put our ancestors to shame that people would go against other people in our country, and hurt the freedom and rights that they fought so valiantly for. We might as well be spitting on their graves for all that matters. I personally do not understand something. How does our country call itself the most free democratic country, when there are individuals in our own country being fought against. We cannot, and how can we possibly be a good democratic influence with people hating in our country?. We simply cannot.

   Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association-
   There is one very strong quote that stands out to me in this speech. It is about the television. It says “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box”. This quote is so very true to me, and is very relevant to us right now. It is so true that the television has an unbelievable amount of power, but we have to use it. In my opinion we do not use it to the proper extent. We have people who do not talk about the truth, because it may controversial but we may have to be to get the truth across. WE have a tool that we may even be afraid to use right now. It may offend certain people but almost anything will so it may have to be done. We also do not have enough serious information on the television. We need to be more determined to use it and be honest, just like the people in good night and good luck.
9. Jenny Richter May 22, 2011 at 1:32 pm

   “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.”
   This is a rather important and true statement that not only applies now, but to just about any given moment in history. So many different times in the past, people have stood up for their rights or their own beliefs, or have simply been in the minority and because of that have been persecuted. Multiple times in history, those who exercised their right to freedom of speech a little too intensely have been silenced, such as when the Sedition act was created. Just because you don’t agree with every little thing the government does or says doesn’t mean that you hate America or are a Communist or that something is wrong with you. African Americans, women, minority races, homosexuals, and many other groups have all stood up for their rights as people at some point in American history and each time they did they were knocked down. They weren’t disloyal to America; they merely wanted to make it a better and more equal place for themselves. They would be sent to Court by majorities, often falsely accused, and they would lose. Badly. This isn’t right. Just because someone is different doesn’t mean that they’re unlawful or are doing anything wrong.

   “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
   Being hypocritical isn’t going to get us anywhere. America has got to stop claiming to be fighting for freedom when we’re still oppressing so many who just want the freedom to be themselves. Currently a ton of gay repression is going on. Hate is coming from lawmakers, some extremely homophobic churches, and even just regular people. Tennessee’s law against discussing homosexuality or “alternate” sexualities is causing quite a stir and is in some ways reminiscent of Tennessee’s Butler Act which made it illegal to teach evolution. Anyone with common sense could tell you that pretending something isn’t there doesn’t mean that it will disappear or remain silent. Ignoring something that you have an issue with isn’t going to make the problem go away. We’ve got to stop limiting the freedoms of others. This can’t be making us look good in the eyes of other countries. It just makes us appear weak, hypocritical, and disorganized.

   “There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live.”
   This basically sums up television in general. There are very few programs that show anything of any actual substance and of those, not a ton of them are controversial or even have anything to do with current events. If you were to show television programs in a pie chart, 99% of it would be reality television, soap operas, cartoons, and infomercials and 1% would be informative programs. If you take that 1% and make it into a full pie chart categorizing these programs, at least 70% of it would be PBS documentaries and things of that nature. The remaining 30% would be things along the lines of BBC News and any news station that actually reports on world issues instead of dinky little human interest stories. If we don’t know what’s going on in the world, how are we supposed to participate in world events? How can we be successful if we are so painfully ignorant?
10. Brad Miller May 22, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    1. “His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism. 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 quotation from Ed Murrow’s speech to the country about McCarthy’s wrath to rid the country of communists highlights the truth of the matter that Americans cannot see because they have been brain-washed by McCarthy’s persuasiveness. He his highlighting our greatest enemy is ourselves if we live in fear that our neighbor might be a spy against America. He is making it clear that no one can be called a communist without due process of law and that just because McCarthy accuses someone, it doesn’t automatically mean that they are communist for trying to fight for their freedoms. This is similar to how some Americans after the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, many Americans thought that all Muslim-Americans were terrorists and built bombs. These accusations were rarely true and disrupted the freedoms of our own people, instilling unnecessary fear into our country.
    2. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    – This quote is saying that every action that denies someone’s constitutional freedoms costs the country a unique individual who could do something great in the world. Our founding fathers built this nation upon these freedoms so that every individual would be able to live their life as they pleased no matter how exotic or unorthodox they were. It is similar to how some people in the country do not want gay marriage to exist. However if this is done, this is denying a person’s freedom to have whatever sexual orientation they feel is natural. There is no reason to have a problem with gay marriage. If a person despises it so much, there are other ways to show displeasure without ruining the freedoms and liberties of other individuals.
    3. “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.”
    – This quote is very influential. It is telling America that the television is a great invention and that it can be used for teaching Americans, informing them on important things going on in the world. However, its ability is limited to the determination and dedication of the people controlling the market. He is implying that all that Americans wanted to see on television, at the time, was men dressed in skirts and people doing crazy things, solely for entertainment purposes. They did not want a lesson about politics. This is exactly like how all of this new technology being developed can help us learn about the world around us, but most of the time all people want out of it is more entertainment that stimulates the brain in a less educational way. WE have still yet to find the perfect balance between education and entertainment on television. Therefore a lot of Americans are uniformed on many of the major issues affecting the country today.
11. Evan Daykin May 22, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    The “see it now” Broadcast-
    This speech applies just as much today as it did in 1954. Yes, there are going to be idiots, ignorant and close-minded people, but them whining about whatever they need attention for at the current moment isn’t going to hurt the country if the rest of us don’t buy into it. The country is great in the sense that we have the right to complain about it or otherwise be idiots. Crackpots are the embodiment of this freedom- Communists can be communists, Radicals can be radical, and modern-day McCarthys can do whatever they so choose as long as said people aren’t committing genuine acts of treason, or abandoning their responsibilities as a citizen. Treason and espionage were a real threat in 1954, and Joe McCarthy Seized the opportunity to claw his way into the limelight and re-election by blowing it out of proportion with wild accusations without any basis.

    “Dissent w/ Disloyalty”
    This quote could not have been more accurate. When the public is quelled from speaking their mind, that is when revolutions happen- ie Egypt. Disagreement is not “anti-american” or “radical”. It is natural for us to be stubborn to the point of insanity in times of uncertainty or instability, but for a democracy to work, the behaviors exhibited during the red scare must not deter us from the democratic process or the constitution. This is relevant today, as cable news programs ruthlessly misconstrue any shred of fact in breaking events, with “analysis” from”experts” that are certifiably insane. The mindset in 1954 was similar. if one quote would best fit the era, it would be “I don’t know, therefore Communists”.
    http://208.116.9.205/10/content/3117/8.jpg

    “insulation”
    This selection is the 1954 version of what the internet, in addition to television is today. The focus of both has shifted poles from spreading information to the masses to an endless tug-of-war for viewership and ad revenue. Owners of these media outlets know that people don’t like to hear the bad, and will shelter themselves from what they don’t want to hear. This happened in the 30’s before WW2, in the height of the cold war when any sort of dissent was blocked out or stifled,and now, in the information age when mindless idiots would rather know Justin Bieber’s Facebook status than relevant current events. How much people are being spoon-fed mindless crap- the main culprit here being MTV, and people actually giving manufactured “celebrities”, as well as crackpot hate groups the time of day to even be heard, make me seriously fear how our generation is going to handle the future.
12. Elizabeth Benedetti May 22, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    On the March 9, 1954 broadcast of “See it Now” there is quote that states “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.” This quote is related to a lot of things that are going on in today’s world. An example would be how the United States sent troops into the Middle East to try and help them, yet this battle between peoples had been going on for years now. The country was trying to help other countries find their freedom, while ignoring issues about freedom back home. A while back there was a movie created about evolution. Places like the Detroit Science Center showed it, but some states weren’t happy with it. They banned the showing of this film and believed it was wrong to expose it to children. Other issues like this one that are going on in the United States is the rewriting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to make it more “appropriate” and the banning of teachers speaking of homosexuality in school. It seems silly to be trying to help other countries fight for freedom if people in this country are losing their rights to discuss or read certain things.
    One quote that speaks loud and proud to issues occurring today is “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the…confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought,” which was said on the Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, aired in June 1953. People in the United States are lucky enough to live in a country where they can read whatever they want, watch whatever they want, and say whatever they want. Lately, though, it seems rights are being taken away. Some states are starting ban certain literature and the teachings of certain subjects. The teaching of evolution is frowned upon in some states and some states don’t even allow it to be taught in their schools anymore. A more modern day issue is the banning of teaching or speaking about homosexuality in some schools. This country was built on the freedom of the people, but it seems that this is being taken away as important books are being rewritten so they are more “appropriate” for people and certain films that discuss topics like evolution are being pulled out of classrooms and science centers. If this country is to remain the great free and democratic country it was founded as people cannot take the teachings of things.
    A quote that relates to issues on television today is “Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live,” which was said in the Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, in Chicago on October 15, 1958. If a person was to turn on the television today they would see horrible reality shows all about people partying and doing nothing with their lives or some very badly written series. No one really seems to turn on the television to watch current events or listen about problems in this world unless they are over the age of forty. The only time I’ve ever really discussed the news with someone was if they were in my social studies or history class and we had to talk about current events. Today’s T.V. is turning peoples’ minds into mush and it’s sad that this is happening. Maybe one day there will be less crumby reality shows and more important matters being displayed on T.V.
13. Rob Swor May 22, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    In the See It Now broadcast, I think the most relevant statement to today is, “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.” I think this fits well because right now we’re fighting a war out in the Middle East and we’re trying to, well, bring freedom out there, but the problem is that not only are we doing a relatively bad job of making people there free, but we’re also not doing much to help ourselves out here, and it’s making life much harder for many people, limiting us in what we can do.

    In the Ford Fiftieth Anniversary show, I think this whole section reminds me of the recent incident at Seaholm. While it was just a joke by a Senior who wrote his own name on the list of people to be targeted, it still made many people lose confidence in Seaholm and scared a good number of black people in the surrounding area. It was a huge incident and definitely denied a lot of people of their ability to live without fear or trouble.

    In the RTNDA speech, I think the most relevant statement is the entire first paragraph. Americans really are better off than a good majority of the world, and we certainly take that for granted. Almost anyone has a TV and uses it regularly, and a lot of people just lose themselves in watching TV shows, or reading stuff online, or anything involving the media. Americans generally don’t seem to be able to handle small things very well, and they believe everything the media says. For instance, when there was the Swine Flu “pandemic” a few years ago, it really wasn’t a big deal at all. It only killed about 11,000 people, which sounds like a lot, but more than 50 million people were affected, and that was out of around 300 million Americans. That meant that there was about a .02% death rate for people who got it, and that was of only about 15% of the country, but the media made it sound like it were closer to 100 million deaths, and people believed it, when we were safer than we thought we were.
14. Rachel Goldstein May 22, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    “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.”

    For the past century, the United States has fought to protect or create freedom and democracy in other countries. Today we are fighting for it in the Middle East. Yet while we fight for freedom, it is denied to thousands of citizens at home. Gay and lesbian couples cannot legally wed in almost every state. Discussing homosexuality or even mentioning the word “gay” in schools is being made illegal in Tennessee. People who are LGBT are not free to marry whoever they want, so are not fully free.

    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty…”

    In the 1950s, people who were different or disagreed with the government were labeled “security threats” and “communists”. Today, only Hannah Voigt accuses people of being communist. Unfortunately, we have a country have not reached the point where we no longer confuse dissent with disloyalty. For example, if a bill in Congress is endorsed by the Republican Party and a democrat (let’s call him Bob) votes for it, the rest of the Democratic Party doesn’t see it as a Bob having a different opinion or seeing a different side of the issue. Oh no, Bob is a traitor, a horrible democrat, and a butt face. Even in personal relationships, people feel that if their compatriots disagree with them, they no longer like them. That is not the case; they just don’t like that particular idea.

    “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

    It is easy to assume that this speech was written in the past couple years. In it, Ed Murrow talks about how people have become “wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent”. If that was true in 1958, it is even truer now. The United States is facing an epidemic of obesity while millions of people in less fortunate parts of the world are starving. Television entertains and amuses, and while there are programs that inform the public of world events, teach and inspire, they aren’t nearly as fun to watch as explosions, reality shows, cartoons, and teenagers who deal with their slightly clichéd problems by singing.
15. Molly Sovran May 22, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    In the last sentence Murrow says “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves”. This relates to my life right now because when something goes wrong, we tend to always lay the blame on someone else. If someone gets pulled over by the cops, you blame it on the fact that everyone else speeds. Or if you get yelled at in class because you were talking when you shouldn’t have been, you say he talked to me first. When someone weather they are a political figure, a rock star, or an average Joe, they will play the blame game because that’s human nature. “I do not advocate that we turn television into a 27-inch wailing wall, where longhairs constantly moan about the state of our culture and our defense. But I would just like to see it reflect occasionally the hard, unyielding realities of the world in which we live”. I am using this quote because it reflects television in today’s times. Today, we have reality T.V, but that’s not a good representation of what our reality is. Half of it is written by the producers and half is just trash. What he’s trying to say is that we need actual reality T.V, what the world is actually like, and it wont be trash, it would be educational and worth while to watch. Not just about the news and what’s going on the world, but actual things that happen in the United States, and its worth watching. A lot of kids step away from the books, or being active because they are so addicted to the T.V and I feel that it would happen less if there was just some educational television sites that were good to watch. “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.” I am using this quote because it shows that he’s trying to say if we keep excluding the minorities and only working about why someone is different, people are going to think that we don’t necessarily live in a free world. He’s also trying to say that people in Asia and in Africa are going to start realizing that everything were about is a lie, and were defending something that isn’t true, and trying to go by something that isn’t true. In every aspect of history, Americans have done their best to “leave” someone out, or in other words discrimination. For a good amount of time, it was white vs black, in the 1900s it was white protestant vs white eastern European. And at one point it was white vs Asian, white vs Latino etc. We can’t get away from discrimination, but we can collectively try to stop it around ourselves. In today’s times, we are racist against Middle Eastern people because we think they are all terrorists. So no matter how hard we try to get away from it, we will always have it and that’s why we need to stop it, and slowly get away from it.
16. Mallory Moss May 22, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    See it now broadcast:
    “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty”
    This statement has as much relevance today as it did back in the 1950s. In fact, in a true democracy it is always relevant. In a free society, there will always be a difference of opinions among people weather the government is taking appropriate action or not. Just because someone believes what the government is doing is wrong, doesn’t make them un-American or a traitor. I recently saw a group of people protesting against the United States continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The protesters were carrying signs and chanting “get out of their country now!” A women approached the protestors and started talking about how her son served in Iraq and died for his country. She was obviously very upset. While every American should feel indebted to the courageous soldiers that served for our country, there is nothing wrong with people voicing their displeasure with the government for putting the soldiers in harms way.

    Ford Fiftieth anniversary show:
    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the… confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    This quote is a reminder that how we react in this country to dissenters is going to be viewed by others around the world and may have an effect on their approach to freedom and democracy. For example, the fact in the United States, Americans can openly question and criticize our government officials without repercussions are well-known to young people living in oppressive countries throughout the middle east. The Internet and social media sites like facebook and twitter have educated young people that in America everyone is free to state their opinion about the government. This knowledge inspired young people in countries like Syria and Libya to openly criticize their government knowing they would have the support of other nations. It has become apparent that freedom and democracy is contagious and once people are exposed, they want to have it. It is important that people from around the world look at the United States and see that a free country can have a healthy amount of opposition and dissent.

    Radio-Television News Directors Association:
    “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.”
    At one time television was limited to only a few stations. Those stations rarely showed hard news and problems in various parts of the world. All of that has now changed. With hundreds of stations available, there are all kinds of hard news available from throughout the world. Unfortunately the majority of Americans, including me, choose to watch soap operas, dancing shows, and singing contests rather than stories about starvation and suffering around the world. Television is viewed as a source of entertainment, not as a source to connect us to the world. Too many people only care about being distracted and entertained rather than reacting to suffering and injustice. Although the opportunities for using television to inform and inspire are now in place, T.V show producers still find that most people do not want to watch T.V. for real world education but rather who’s going to get eliminated and embarrass themselves in the latest reality T.V. show. The lesson is just because the media now has the ability to show what is happening anywhere in the world, it does not mean the social consciousness of Americans has changed.
17. Lenny Gross May 22, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    I shall quote the first line of Murrow’s speech when he was describing to the nation of the Wisconsin Senators actions and words “No one familiar with the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful,” Currently, international committees are failing along with Middle Eastern governments. They have proved to be useless during agreements between international conflicts; this is seen with the actions the United Nations have taken in response to war in Libya and Egypt. I disagree that congressional committees today have much use. However, in the past, congressional committees have worked. Labor unions during the 30’s, like the American Federation of Labor proved to be extremely useful by obtaining better working conditions and shorter hours as well as better pay grade. During the depression, FDR’s new deal plans had helped supply young men and woman with opportunities to work in environmental improvement plans with help of committees and work alliances. Old committees I believe, proved to be useful in times of need, but now, congressional committees I see having little use or help any cause either internationally or within the countries borders.
    I quote the 50th anniversary show on CBS and NBC in June of 1953, “if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.” at this very moment, racial conflict in the middle east is taking similar approaches to issues just like the ones in Asia and Africa. Due to random splitting of Middle Eastern countries right after WWI, the Treaty Of Versailles brought Iran to a cultural standstill and eventually, a civil war. Just because people were of a different ethnicity, they were all punished and battled amongst themselves. The Sunnis and the Shiates have were put within the same country and we helped bring equality to the nation, (at least we tried to do so), therefore concluding that this country doesn’t support the inequality of countries. We are trying the defend the freedoms of everybody and bring peace amongst civil warring nations before it leads to the destruction of themselves. It shows how then, and now we take action against non-democratic counties and we don’t tolerate violence amongst them.
    I quote the October 15, 1958 Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.” Today, we rarely learn from television, sure the news informs us of the horrors happening around the world on the hour, every hour, but do we really find essential meaning to current events, something useful, so clasp onto and learn? Not typically, in fact, the vast majority of public television is cartoonized, reality nosense that actually fry the brain. In truth, the television and television shows have become an almost completely prophit run business, its all about Jersey Shore, and The Office (however the office is a good show), there is nothing to learn in reality BS. It has become wires and lights in a box, and people haven’t for at the least, the past decade used it for the right reasons.
18. Alex Cooper May 22, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    See it now:
    In this speech, I think that the most important quote was: “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.” We have been in the Middle East fighting for our freedom wherever that it is needed to be fought in the different countries, but in our own country we aren’t defending freedom. The war in the Middle East hasn’t been stopped yet, which shows that we have not been able to do a good job with achieving our freedom. And in the same way, here in our own backyards we aren’t doing a good job with achieving our freedom. We as a country, have ruined peoples’ lives by not allowing them their freedom. In the times before the 1950s and the 1960s we were very violent towards African Americans, and now even though times have changed since then, we still don’t share our freedom. How would we be able to set a good example when we are fighting for freedom in a country, but we can’t even maintain freedom in our own country?

    Ford 50th Anniversary Show:
    In this speech, I think that the most important quote from it was: “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” This can apply to many things that are going on in this country right now. If we are making laws and acts that can limit, deny, or take away from the freedom of individuals in this country, it costs us many things. The most important thing that it costs us is the confidence and the thinking of those individuals that want that freedom but aren’t able to get it even if they fight for it. An example of this is in Tennessee is the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Children in schools aren’t allowed to use the word gay until ninth grade in public schools. The thinking behind this is that if they don’t say the word, the less likely they will be homosexual when they are older. This is taking away the confidence of people that actually are gay, and it is making it seem like they are alienated away from the rest of the world.

    Radio News TV Directors Speech:
    In this speech, in my opinion I think that the most important quote was: “Our history will be what we make it.” My belief is that if you want something to change for the better, or the worse, it is up to the beholder itself to make or let it happen. A Ghandi quote that I believe in is “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” The choices that one individual would make, could have an impact, and the ability to change the world, and the people in the world could listen to one human being. This could be a life changing event and it could affect many people on a much larger scale than just in their own little community. When we look back in the history books, all of the big events that have occurred were only because of one group’s decisions, or even one person’s decisions. If we didn’t want to have any more wars then the president of the United States does have the decisions to make that would make our country do this. The world could be so much better if everyone made decisions, because they do in fact change the world.
19. Autumn Palmer May 22, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    “Cassius was right. ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.’”

    Too many Americans are using excuses as to why we are still overseas. With thoughts like “We are supposed to be over there, it is meant to be”, people are trying to pin our forcing another country into democracy as an act of fate. I don’t believe it was an act of fate however, I think we choose to go there on our own time. Our congress decided to invade Iraq, not the stupid stars. I don’t understand why people don’t understand that. I personally am against the war in Iraq. Though I partly understand why we went there in the first place, I don’t understand why we are still there. I think we have been there long enough, and if we haven’t solved whatever problem was there by now, there is no more hope. Even though I know the United States is just trying to help, I think we need to get our priorities straight. There is much more that needs our attention in our own country than across seas.

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”

    The new Michigan driving laws for teenagers are a good example of this. These laws limit the first taste of freedom that we get as teenagers. In some states, you have to be 18 to get a drivers license, but in Michigan you only have to be 16. It was basically the only freedom we get before we are adults. It helps us to be more responsible and putting restrictions on when we are allowed to drive and who we are allowed to drive with, does nothing but make us want to break the rules. Ten o’clock is not that late, yet that is when teenagers have to be off the streets. How does the state expect us to know what to do with freedom if they don’t give us enough of a taste of it before we are on our own? That’s when the streets will really be reckless, because we won’t know how to drive by ourselves at night.

    “Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.”

    It turns out that they were right. The television has turned into nothing but something to entertain, amuse, and rot the human brain. Of the educational and informational shows that do come on the television once in a while, not many of them are widely watched. Americans have stopped caring. It seems now that as long as you graduate college, there is no need for you to learn anymore, so people tune out. It seems to me that the struggle is already lost, and I have no idea how to find it again, and maybe even win it. I have no doubt that it will be tough, but if we try hard enough, America can be smart again. And I’m not just talking about the kids going through high school and college, I mean all Americans. The television can be used to spread knowledge all over the country, but we are dumb enough to use it to spread mindless entertainment all over the world.
20. Kaylee Brown May 22, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty”
    I chose this quote because I really do think its true, and just because someone has a different opinion about something major doesn’t mean that they are disloyal. We won’t always agree on everything 100%. And if someone were to disagree with something their country is doing it doesn’t mean they’re being disloyal and getting ready to head to Canada, they’re just disagreeing. Even on a smaller scale, for example if your best friend is doing something you disagree with and you voice that then you are doing absolutely nothing more than disagree. You are not being a disloyal friend for not agreeing with what they’re doing you’re just taking a different stand. Which is totally okay. I think a lot of people do mistake dissent for dishonesty because it’s one of those things (on the same small scale) that doesn’t always feel good to have someone disagree with you and if your opinion is super strong than it can feel like they’re not being steadfast when they were supposed to be on your side.

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    I chose this quote because i think it is very evident in so many ways now and back then. I think this is saying that when we deny people rights we’re taking away their meaning to the US and that we’re going to be lacking their individuality. In these times that shows with gay marriage, denying someone’s religion, etc. Obviously, that would be taking away a huge part of someone life. You can’t just tell someone no when it’s who they are! And back when women didn’t have any rights. Your gender is a major part of you. Not necessarily who you are but you can’t just up and be like oh hey, I’m going to head out and be a boy now because I want to vote in this election. It just doesn’t work like that. So by taking away rights based on a gender isn’t fair because it’s not like we can help what we’re born as.

    “We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.”
    I think this quote is really true because honestly, who wants to hear bad news? No one. Not back then, not now, probably not in the future. And I really think this creates a problem because if people aren’t willing to listen to bad news or hear unpleasing information there is no possible way to make it good. I know people who say they don’t like to watch the news because it only ever scares them. In fact, if you watch Cougar Town (it’s actually really good) the one character, Bobby, doesn’t like the news at all and he has a “short version” of what’s going on, then someone told him all about what’s going on and it threw off his entire golf game!! No, that’s not that tragic. But clearly he’s “allergic” to bad news! Kids are starving. Thats AWFUL information that no one wants to believe but if no one is willing to listen then who is going to help these kids get food?
21. Katie Donnellon May 22, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    1. “…but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one…” I think that this relates to today because of the Patriot Act. The patriot act allows the government to tap people phones to see if they are talking about terrorist things. Anybody’s phone conversations can be listened in on, sometimes even if you yourself aren’t a terrorist suspect. I think that it is not fair to have your privacy violated if you haven’t done anything wrong. There is a big difference between listening to protect the country and violating people’s privacy. Another way that it relates to today socially is racial profiling. Sometimes in airports Arabic people are more often randomly searched because it is easier for security to see them as terrorists. People of Middle Eastern decent are most commonly thought of as terrorists because the people that are on the news for trying to hurt America the most are from the Middle East.
    2. “—if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox—“ This is similar to our social world today. People today that are different than most of the people, if you don’t act like people think you should then people often feel like they don’t belong. Socially people aren’t very open to the idea of people who don’t act like they do. Usually people like to hang out with the people that are like them, and we are quick to judge the ones that aren’t. While nobody is denying any rights to people who are different it is still the same kind of judgment as the people who were thought to be communist. I think that it is hard to except differences in people, and in the fight against communism it was especially hard because people thought that all communist people were trying to spread the practice in the states.
    3. “But unless we get up of 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,…” I think that this relates to today because people only get to know what the news tells them. The news get to divulge the facts that they want people to know, put emphasis on some things, and down play others. With local news stories where there are only a few news stations to give the facts and usually you only watch one station, people are deprived of information the most. This leads to one sided stories and everybody feels that same way about things. But it’s not always the case, it can sometimes be the case that the reporter feels one way so the only tell half the story, and it makes most other people feel the same way. With world events the problem is slightly relieved because there are a lot of different newspapers that write about the same things, and there are a lot of articles on the internet, but there are probably not a lot of people who read multiple articles on the same events.
22. Courtney Stewart May 22, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    “We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law”
    This quote relates to our society today because in many cases people are out casted based on accusations instead of evidence. Another factor weighing into this is stereotypes when the terrorist attacks took place there was a lot of accusation based on the way people looked. If a man wore a turban because of his religious beliefs some American’s would turn their noses up at them and call them terrorists. There are also some people who place blame of crimes on people just because of their race. For instance in the South if a black man is seen near the area of a robbery or other crime he often gets blamed. I believe that in our society people shouldn’t be convicted unless they have been proven guilty, and by conviction I mean ostracized and also convicted. To have a successful country it is extremely important that we are fair and only punish those who have actually caused harm to our country.
    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    This quote relates to our society today because in some cases people limit the freedom of speech of others. There are cases today where the woman of the household is abused and controlled. These women are forced to stand silent, and stand behind their husbands these women were born with mouths but now they have no voice. Women are a strong factor in America, we have great hearts and natural nurturing personalities. Women are also the smartest sex in the country and it is a shame that some are forced to stand silent. Another group of people that are silenced are the teenage youth of our country. I think that America should lower the voting age because with the last election I was in the 8th grade and I understood the issues that were with the election. We were also being taught about the election in our History classes. I think that I knew just as much about the election as any other American and should have been allowed to take part in the election.
    “Our history will be what we make it”
    This quote relates to our society today because we have the power to create an amazing history. We are the future and after our time we will be the History. Our country also has the power not to lest history repeats itself. As a country we should learn from the mistakes of our past. We should learn that when we scare people into confessing things and passing blame around a circle such as both of the red scares. Its also important that we educate the youth of today and give them a strong understanding of the History of our country so they know what happened and how negative things that happened in our country could’ve been avoided. Once our youth is educated the next history will be in their hands they will have the power and control to lead our country to great success. For our future History to be prosperous we must start with today!
23. Cameron Crawford-Mook May 22, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    “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.”—See it Now Broadcast

    This quote from the See it Now broadcast talks about how we can’t sacrifice the values we are fighting for overseas at home just based on the mostly irrational fear that the United States citizens had. These words remind me of the mass panic, and I would even go as far as to say hysteria, that swept the country after the 9/11 attacks. The point of “terrorist” attacks is just that: to terrorize. We gave the terrorists exactly what we wanted by changing the security at our airports, not shopping in malls, and causing panic on mass transportation systems. They were probably glad to see how our country turned ourselves inside out looking for terrorists, even sacrificing our privacy for the off chance of finding someone. This panic of looking for anyone and everyone who might have had connections to any terrorist organizations is very similar to the panic in the 50s and 60s to look for anyone associated with communism.

    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.”–Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show

    This quote is important because I think it shows the fine line that Americans have struggled with for a long long time: the struggle between free speech and protecting our security. Several times in our history, especially in times of war, I think that line has been crossed and the rights of citizens to free speech and demonstration have been violated—especially in the red scare of 1919-1920 and the cold war. I think that one of the things people value about our country is that we are able to have free speech, but I think every time we limit it, people become more disillusioned with the United States. I agree with the quote—if we don’t live up to our promises, people in other countries won’t see the point in democracy, assuming that if it doesn’t work anyway, why should they risk the often-times dangerous elections that have to take place.

    “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…Their fear of controversy is not warranted by the evidence. I have reason to know, as do many of you, that when the evidence on a controversial subject is fairly and calmly presented, the public recognizes it for what it is–an effort to illuminate rather than to agitate.”– Radio-Television News Directors Association

    I think this quote about TV very accurately reflects the nature of television right now. From the Kardashians to Jon and Kate plus Eight to 16 and Pregnant, it seems to me that there are more shows that entertain and cause viewers to lose brain cells than shows that educate and inform about important issues. Even news programs now focus a lot more on “fluff” pieces than actual news. A lot of fluff is due to the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, but I think a lot of it is also due to what Americans want. As this quote says, TV is used to insulate us and keep us from seeing the real world. The second part of the quote talks about how people respect when controversial issues are just presented with the facts with less of a slant added. I know that on the rare occasions when I watch the news, I’m far more interested in just hearing the facts than someone’s opinions on the facts, especially when they are sparring with an opponent that has been set up to cause a televised argument.
24. Stephanie Dudek May 22, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    1. “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.”(See it now broadcast, March 9, 1954). This quote can be applied to our political and social situations today and in the past by basically criticizing every war or conflict the U.S has even been in. We always try and forces that our country in the perfect Democracy on other countries and make them be more like us. Vietnam War, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are all examples of this. We should not try and “protect” or change other countries “for the greater good” based on our own principles when we are not even doing things correctly here. When we were attacked on 9/11 we immediately decided that the way to fix what happened or get revenge would be to try and change other countries so that they are more like us. Instead of internally fixing what happened to the country we feel the need to fix everyone else. It’s like a financial adviser advising people but not listening to his own advice.
    2. “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox” (Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953). The United States is country founded on the beliefs that everyone is allowed to have different opinions and can speak against what the governments doing. This quote expresses that when people believe, like Senator McCarthy, that having opinions and expressing them is bad we are going against what our country prides itself on. While in the process of trying to “conserve” the rights of freedom of speech, assembly, press, religion we end up going against the same rights. The pastor from Florida that wanted to burn the Quran, and the mosque that was built at ground zero are both example of how to “defend” people’s rights not how police were torturing African –American protestors in the 60s. The pastor form Florida was left alone until he took it to a point where people felt unsafe. And the mosque that was built on ground zero is being left alone even though many people feel outraged by its presence at a place where America was attacked by people of the same religions that it serves.
    3. “For surely we shall pay for using this most powerful instrument of communication to insulate the citizenry from the hard and demanding realities which must be faced if we are to survive”(Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 1958. ). Television, the internet, advertising all are great things. When used correctly they educate the American population on many different matters that are of importance. During wars they share news of wounded, deceased, and how the war is going. During a crisis abroad, tsunami in Japans and earthquake in Haiti, they share news of how we can help or be prepared if it happens to us. During a presidential campaign or political argument, teacher and union cuts, they share information to educate people who it affects. But with stupid shows, like (however much I hate to admit this) Real housewives and 16 & Pregnant, it is doing nothing to further the growth and development of this country. Companies like the Red company do use pop culture and TV to educate people about their cause and to raise money. Large companies should have responsibility to the country and people to get rid of the notion that all Americans are stupid and don’t care.
25. Ellen Searle May 22, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    1. “It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one” This quote reminds me of how today’s media often tries to investigate events, and their investigation ends up making the problem worse. A good example would be the scandals involving Tiger Woods. It started when Woods allegedly crashed his car and the investigation by the media revealed that Woods had been involved in affairs. The investigation by the media led to a tarnishing of Woods’ image. In this case, the media crossed the line between simply investigating the incident and persucuting Woods by publicizing his alleged affairs. There is also the issue sometimes of the media publishing something without first verifying that it is true. Many people have had their lives ruined because the media published something about them without verifying that it is true. This is definitely crossing the line because at this point, there is no investigation but rather simply publishing dirt about someone without even checking that it is true. In the movie, Murrow and his team had to be very careful about checking their facts and making sure that their accusations were true before they broadcast the statements. Similarly, during the Progressive Era, the muckrakers had to be careful to check their facts and make sure that their information was true before they published it. When McClure’s Magazine published Ida Tarbell’s espose of Standard Oil, they sometimes paid thousands of dollars to verify a single article. Murrow and the muckrakers both stayed within the line by investigating the problem and verifying the facts before exposing the truth.

    2. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” This quote reminds me of the racial segregation in the South. Although America is a free country, these people weren’t really free because there were laws that prevented them from having the same freedoms as white citizens. This was taking away from their freedom. The quote might also be referring to acts by the government that restrict American rights, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Espionage Act, and the Smith Act. All of these acts limited free speech rights by not allowing people to speak against the government or advocate the overthrow of the government. These acts also caused discontent among American citizens. The acts, in effect, caused the government to lose the confidence of the American people because the government was limiting their free speech rights.

    3. “I have reason to know, as do many of you, that when the evidence on a controversial subject is fairly and calmly presented, the public recognizes it for what it is–an effort to illuminate rather than to agitate.” This quote is saying that if evidence is fairly presented, the public will see it as educational and not to provoke Americans or instill fear in them. Today’s news is the total opposite of this. Not only do you have the media broadcasting information without first verifying it, you also have horribly biased news programs. Anchors don’t explain both sides of the issue, but instead focus solely on their side of the issue and try to present their opinion of the issue as fact. Generally, Fox News tends to be very liberal and CNN tends to be very conservative. On Fox News you tend to only hear the liberal side of things and on CNN you tend to only hear the conservative side of the issue. Both networks attempt to present their opinions as facts. This horrible bias means that both sides are not argued properly, and the result is often to anger Americans rather than to simply educate them.
26. charlie May 22, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    “It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one” representative peter king of New York recently launched a congressional hearing into the Muslim community accusing them of not doing enough to denounce extremists and terrorists. His investigation was derivate as a witch hunt intended to demonize the Muslim community by linking the acts of a small number of extremists to the broader group in the minds of the general American public. Ironically representative king had been a longtime supporter of the IRA terrorist group holding fundraisers and funneling money and weapons to their support.
    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox” after the September 11 attacks there was a popular movement by the right to conflate patriotism with blind loyalty and dissent or disagreement with disloyalty. The idea of a “loyal opposition” or patriotic dissent was largely tossed aside. Furthermore laws like the patriot act, which curbed civil rights in favor of greater government control and security, were passed with little oversight. Many portions of this law were later repealed though not all of them. The weakening of patriotic dissent and the ability and the ability to disagree in politics has had repercussions that echo to the present day especially during the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections.
    “But that would be unpleasant. And we must at all costs shield the sensitive citizens from anything that is unpleasant.” This is somewhat ironic if you look at this quote from a modern stand point it only seems that the mass media and other forms of information sources only seem to be reporting on negative or unpleasant information. Rather than Murrow’s sanitized productions the news today revolves around “if it bleeds it leads” and small human interest stories like small animals dancing. Rather than helping to clarify and expose our true issues the endless parade of terrorism, mass murder, racism helps dull our reactions. In the news the world is a horrible place beyond our ability to affect rather than a place of solvable issues.
27. Erin Lammers May 22, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    From the quote “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,” I can derive a grounds for the immigration issue. The speaker is right; after winning the second world war and declaring “democracy for a free world” as our slogan, we’re kind of going back on our word in terms of immigration. We’re restricting the flow of foreign people into our country when they clearly want to leave their un-democratic countries. It’s quite hypocritical to advocate world peace and liberty for all when we won’t even allow our continental neighbors to make their dreams come true in America. It’s almost our duty as the most successful democracy in the world to help others either achieve something similar, if it’s what they desire, or get them out of the dire situation they’re in. Ending their lives or forcing them back to the conflagrations known as their homelands isn’t the way to show everyone that we’re willing to facilitate all the freedoms of the United States in their own nations.
    The excerpt “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the…confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought,” can be applied to the heated debate about same-sex marriage. Legislation in the form of acts or laws that limits things – like who you can and can’t marry – doesn’t bode well as the image of the free and brave America. This shows how we restrict the options, in a way, of our citizens, and how we aren’t courageous enough to confront this as a country and do the right thing. Though we’re undoubtedly advanced in so many ways, many Americans shy away from the subject of gay marriage and gay rights. Every single “minority” has had to fight for their rights, and why? Maybe we weren’t so wise back during the Progressive Era or the Civil Rights Movement or any other faction’s struggle for equality, but we should have learned our lesson by now. This very message is written in every history textbook and is even stated in our own constitution; everyone deserves equality, end of story.
    The passage “I am entirely persuaded that the American public is more reasonable, restrained and more mature than most of our industry’s program planners believe. Their fear of controversy is not warranted by the evidence. I have reason to know, as do many of you, that when the evidence on a controversial subject is fairly and calmly presented, the public recognizes it for what it is – an effort to illuminate rather than to agitate,” could be interpreted as the, well, controversial topic of abortion. This quote is very true; as long as the American public is not taken by surprise and is not spoken to like a parent to a child, but more like one friend to another, the situation can be considered with composure. That kind of care needs to be taken when approaching the subject of abortion because it is noticeably provocative and everyone takes a side, especially because human life is part of the equation. If we just sat and looked at the facts, we as Americans could unravel this issue. Unfortunately, most peoples’ views conflict with one another and there’s really no fair compromise. The truth is, peoples’ bodies are their own, and the government should not interfere with that. Women have the right to a choice, at the very least, and not granting them that undermines the Constitution.
28. Allison Roche May 22, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Speech One. “His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism.” I think this applies to our us socially because once you got a group of people to believe one thing, it’s only a matter of time before more people believe it. In the case of McCarthy he got lots of people to believe that communism in America was a major problem and capable of destroying us. This wasn’t the case. I think this relates somewhat specifically to Global Warming. I know that wether it exists or not it controversial and even though I don’t think it does thats not where I’m going with this. Al Gore and his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth got lots of people to believe Global Warming exists and is a horrible problem. Once this way of thinking became popular even more people started to believe it. This made a huge “Go Green” movement similar to the Red Scare (in popularity not really in anything else).

    Speech Two. I think all of speech two illustrates how we can’t get everyone to fit into a little cookie cutter shape. Were all different and we shouldn’t try to get every one to conform. I don’t think we do this as much as we used to do in the 50s so thats good but we still do it. For example, in Tennessee it is now illegal to say the word “gay” in public schools. This seems to be an effort to get homosexuality to go away and hide. Thats not going to happen so people should just accept it and adapt. If the government want to try to make it go away thats a major problem. Everyone should be able to be who they are without any problems from anybody and be treated equally no matter how different of “special” they are.

    Speech Three. The ideas of speech three is very true in my opinion. We use television as something to do when were bored when we could use it as something to inform and educate people with. As I write this I’m watching “River Monsters” which I guess is a little educational but if you think about how much television the average person watches in a year it must be a lot. Now most of that was to be mindless stupidity on a flashing screen. If we replaced the stupid stuff with intelligent educational stuff we would be so much smarter. Unfortunately thats not going to happen anytime soon. People would rather be entertained then think and that usually includes myself. Although I do enjoy some shark week now and again which I think definitely counts as educational television. I think people watch educational television if it interests them. I personally really like all things marine so I end up watching lots of fishing shows and discovery shows that are ocean related where as I would guess that Mr. Wickersham watches alot of History channel.
29. Eli Sherman May 22, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    “It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism.”
    I find that this links to current public policy in the United States with specific regard to persecuting and unfair singling out of specific individuals and companies. Just a few weeks ago the government singled out and prosecuted the Boeing company for carrying out “unfair labor practices.” What Boeing had done was to build a new plant in South Carolina with the intention of avoiding a union (since South Carolina is a right to work state). The Fair Labor Standards Administration charged the Boeing company without first investigating the possible infraction. This is exactly what McCarthy was doing when he charged and prosecuted people for being Communists without investigation and solely on the grounds that they had been accused by another person.

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    This quote sounds exactly like something a tea party politician such as Sarah Palin or Marco Rubio would say. Today’s politicians love to use the will of our ancestors and forefathers as a way to push their own agendas. They (often mis)quote men the likes of Ben Franklin and George Washington and argue that if what they want done is not carried out, then everything that we fought Britain and Spain and Japan and Germany for will have gone to waste. This, these days, is becoming an unfortunate possibility. As the U.S. government continues to expand, while our democratic principles slowly get flushed down the drain, the work of our ancestors also leaves us. Actions such as the passing of Obamacare, which we now see have severe consequences, were carried out with little representation. Our elected officials themselves did not even know what they were voting for let alone the common people. Just as McCarthy was destroying the rights of his fellow countrymen by doing such things as disregarding the due process of law, our government is doing the same today.

    “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.”

    These days our main sources of media, NBC; CBS; CNN; FOXNews, are almost surely government controlled (with the exception of FOXNews, which claims to be fair and balanced). Three of these four major news outlets are liberal, in alignment with both the White House and the Senate. As a result, these three sources tend to report only what the left side of the political spectrum wish for the viewers to see and hear. When bad news for the left makes the headlines, they do their best to defend those that have come into a bad light; and when a right wing conservative is brought under scrutiny, these stations pounce on the story and exploit the person that the story is about. This is no way for the news to be handled. Our society deserves to hear the news as it happened with no biased spin. Even FOXNews tends to defend the right more than the left, as all three of their nightly prime-time hosts are conservatives. Back in Morrow’s time, it was the same way. The heads of each main station oversaw what was discussed on all of its programs. If a particular aspect of one’s show was questionable, it would be censored and the show risked cancellation.
30. Brittany Kashat May 22, 2011 at 10:50 pm

    ~See it Now broadcast~
    “We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. “ This statement can be related to any case or trial that was not executed fairly. It can especially be applied to the Sacco and Vanzetti case of 1920. Just because someone is accused, that doesn’t mean that they are automatically guilty. And you can’t convict someone without solid, hard evidence. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Sacco and Vanzetti. They were anarchists who were convicted of killing 2 men, and after trial, they were executed. Their guilt or innocence has been highly disputed as well as whether or not the trials were fair, because of circumstantial and contradictory evidence. They were mainly targeted as suspects because they were Italian anarchist immigrants. There wasn’t exactly “hardcore” evidence, it was more of a he said she said thing. But, in the end they were convicted even though, going back to the quote, their conviction didn’t really depend on evidence or due process of law, because they weren’t tried fairly. The court was prejudice against them.
    ~Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show~
    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” How can we talk about how democratic and free the people of America are when the word gay has been banned from Tennessee schooling? This act denies people of their freedom of speech, which is the FIRST amendment. Clearly this right must be important if it’s the first one. Generations before us have worked so hard to get the rights we now are able to enjoy (for the most part). So, banning free speech is a violation of the first amendment in the Bill of Rights. This just makes us seem hypocritical and will tarnish our reputation for our support of peoples’ rights and democracy. The reason most immigrants come to America is to enjoy the rights that their country prohibits, and by taking them away will just push the immigrants away, and that is not fair to them. America should actually follow through on its rights, otherwise everything our ancestors worked for will have been for nothing.
    ~Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association~
    “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.” This quote tells it like it was then and is now. The television has made most of the people in our country a couch potato; their eyes glued to the TV like their life depended on it. Many people, especially teens, rot their brains by watching the garbage that is now on TV like Jersey Shore or 16 and Pregnant, or the like. Whatever happened to just going outside for some fresh air and getting some exercise. While I do admit that I am one of many who watch reality TV, I should find something better to watch or do. Even though the shows are supposed to be “real” and without scripts, we don’t know that for sure. How can we know if the people on those kinds of shows aren’t told to act a certain way? We can’t. We must learn to watch not only the entertaining shows, but also the ones that educate us.
31. Saul Levin May 22, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    “No one familiar within the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful.”

    This quote is one of the quotes more easily applied to the United States today but I still found it to be very interesting. Our congress has been immensely useful over our short history to the point that people don’t appreciate how great it is as much as they should. Congress is like the stars in that people would further appreciate how amazing it is if it were put to use on a less regular basis. Looking back down the road of American history it can be noted that with congress in place, the problem does remain that different groups have different beliefs about what the countries course of action should be. Congress’ job is to be the arbitrator or decider of important decisions based on the wishes of the people. Without congress our country would fall apart because with no one to make decisions everyone would start fighting and nothing would get done. What congress has done for this country proves its usefulness as a committee

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”

    In my opinion it is sad that anyone even needed to say this. America is a free country and some people just can seem to put a handle on that fact. Folks like the members of the Westborough church discriminate against others for the most ridiculous reasons imaginable. This country has come out stronger from bad decisions including treatment of Native Americans in the early nineteen twenties and the treatment of blacks through out slavery. As Americans today we need to preserve and better the free country that our ancestors of different generations have made for us by treating everyone fairly. If we don’t do that foreigners have every right to question the American image. The equality of this country is part of the reason that the United States of America is as powerful as it is and we can tell other countries about the successes of democracy on our home front. Once we tell them however, we need to hold up our end of the bargain by making it true.

    “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

    The T.V. is what humans make it. It’s like a fallen tree; it can be used to build a boat, a weapon shelter, toys and other things. Its seeds can even be used to grow another. In other words, this quote reminds us that the T.V. is only a channel through which currents can travel. These currents can be campaigns, ideas, fun, action-packed and more but for them to happen they need to be started by people. We built the television and our actions surrounding it will decide how useful it can be. Today the television is an asset to American society. It can be used to pass along messages and ideas as well as entertainment. T.V. is a large roll player in just about everything and humans take advantage of that to get what they want on T.V., creating competition and skyrocketing the price of doing things T.V. related like making commercials.
32. LIZZIE DAVIDSON May 23, 2011 at 12:04 am

    See it now: “We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.”

    This quote applies in many situations today. In can be taken literally, talking about court cases and trials and it can also apply to simpler, social situations. It’s basically saying that jumping to conclusions is wrong and there needs to be evidence. Many fights start between friends from rumors, where there is no evidence. A lot of the time, people will believe the first thing they hear without stopping to consider that there is no evidence. It’s hard not to believe things when they seem true, but no decision should be made with out the proof. It can also relate to advertisements. In ads on tv, radio, amd in print, many claims are made about products and their competitors. Recently, I heard two ads in a row on the radio for two different brands of fertilizer. Each brand was making claims about the other, then proving what the other said about them wrong. It was hard to believe either, because there was no physical proof. The products need to be tested and results shown as proof to determine which is really the best. Whether it’s fertilizer, friendships, or determining who the real murderer is, there always should be evidence before a conclusion.
    Ford fiftieth anniversary show:
    Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought
    In Tennessee, a law has passed banning teachers from saying the word “Gay”. In a poll by the New York Daily news, 78% of people agreed that the law is discrimination and it’s wrong. Our ancestors fought for the rights of many diverse groups and many people look back on it today thankful that freedom has been granted. I also looked back on it thinking how stupid it was to have those freedoms redistricted in the first place. Now, this law has shown that there is a new minority to attract the hatred. It’s not even legal for gays to be married everywhere, and now you can’t even mention the word everywhere? I guess you shouldn’t be allowed to say “straight” in schools either then. If sexual preference isn’t to be discussed, why is it okay to talk about heterosexuals? The gay population in Tennessee probably has had some of their confidence taken away and feel like they have to hide. This is a new battle that we have to fight to ensure every American is equal. I’m embarrassed that future generations will look back on us the same way we look back on slave owners and people who denied women the right to work. It’s all discrimination and all wrong.

    Speech at radio:
    We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information
    It seems that the majority of people have this built in allergy and that is truly quite disturbing. Many people’s method of dealing with problems is purely ignoring them. Sure, wars are going on, people are losing their jobs, and it’s not even legal to talk about your sexual preference BUT HEY let’s watch Jersey Shore and see what Snooki is up to these days! Or those people talking about how annoying it is that gas prices are $4 a gallon, while holding a $5 cup of coffee. Either they acknowledge problems for only a second or not at all, but never long enough to actually care. To give anything a second thought, it has to be lovely, upbeat ideas and news stories that there is no downside to. Yeah, it’s great to pretend everything’s great, but the world needs to realize what else is going on and try to help, or at least have some sympathy.
33. Emily Kakos May 23, 2011 at 12:56 am

    “We will not walk in fear, one of another”
    This statement is crazy as of the past decade. People have become paranoid, frightened, and intimidated by other people of different races and ethnicities. We are going against everything this statement says when we discriminate against people; we actually are living and walking in fear of the person next to us. Before nine eleven, we all chilled in a peaceful America. Our country was so proud of the fact that we were one of the most diverse nations in the world. Then, we started giving up our basic rights and freedoms in the name of security. Airplanes became a nightmare, people were searched for fun really or because they looked remotely middle eastern. Pat downs were aggressive and all of the sudden the government was allowed to search your telephone email conversations, medical and financial records. All in the name of us being safe. All in the name of our outstanding fear of people in our own country. Just like the red scare, and our fear of communists, we repeated history times ten in our fear of terrorism on American soil. As usual, we didn’t learn from our mistakes, and instead of concentrating our efforts on the real threat, we allowed congress to pass the Patriot Act. Even though it is set to expire the 29th of May, this year, our fear of one another will most likely end up renewing it indefinitely.
    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country cost us the confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought”
    This quote reminds me of Terry Jones. Pastor Jones declared he would burn 200 Qurans on the 2010 anniversary of 9/11. After a bunch of pleas from various world leaders to reconsider his decision, Pastor Jones said he would never burn a Quran. Then he reconsidered, again, and burnt one in the sanctuary of his Church. As a result of the burning, protesters in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan attacked the United Nations Assistance Mission, killing at least 30 people and injuring at least 150 people. Even though this is a bad situation, Pastor Jones has every right to express himself in whatever way he wants. He has the right to practice whatever religion and believe whatever he wants and if we start denying that to our citizens, people from other places won’t look at us the same way. We’re supposed to let people practice what they want in America, wars have been fought for this.
    “and we must at all costs shield the sensitive citizens from anything that is unpleasant”
    This, I believe, is a good rule/quote. Today we are constantly censoring and shielding people from the bad things in the world. We have a rating based on age for getting into a theatre and watching certain movies. There is a certain age that kids are allowed to drink and smoke. Even though he was saying censorship was bad-ish, I think that in some cases, like the ones stated above, censorship can be a good thing.
34. Denny Walsh May 23, 2011 at 1:13 am

    “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”-See it Now broadcast, March 9 1954. This quote is extremely relevant today because it seems as though every time a politician attempts to change anything in the way that we do things now they are labeled as either a supporter of terrorism, a communist/socialist, or both. People now have seemed to have lost sight of the middle ground in which people could have differing opinions without being the worst possible thing that could ever have happened to the country. An example of this is with all the hysteria about Obama. His campaign was based on change and so he was labeled a socialist. I may disagree entirely with what he stands for but I can at least recognize that it isn’t socialism.
    “if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox…”-Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953. This quote exemplifies an interesting idea in which people can hardily tell the difference between stupid and evil. Back in the 50s being communist was considered evil in the eyes of many Americans, however, this quote suggests that it should be seen simply as wrong, or stupid. This distinction between evil and stupid is one that people are rarely able to make today, especially when it comes to political officials. Rather than believing that the other side is wrong many people have come to the conclusion that if they do not agree with their ideas then they must simply be evil and they must be plotting the downfall of American society as we know it. Usually, however, the people in question are simply idiots who should never have gotten into power in the first place and can’t help but mess things up once they get there.
    “Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.”-Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 1958. This quote is especially interesting now because it is 50 years later and we are looking back at this footage of the age of McCarthyism and are wondering what the people back then were thinking. We see the evidence of the horrible things that McCarthyism did to people and we see that everyone simply hid and let it happen. Hopefully things such as this will not happen anymore or at least not to this extent.
35. Patrice Bell May 23, 2011 at 1:45 am

    “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.”
    Of all of the amazing quotes that could have been pulled from this selection, this one stuck out to me, because the phrasing was kind of a slap in the face. It seemed like one of those things where you know you should believe it, but you don’t want to. In this broadcast, he is telling us that we cant abandon our own morals for the good of other countries. While I feel that since we are such a powerful country, we should do what we can to help other countries, I still believe that in order to pull them out of the water, we need to be sure that we’re standing on solid ground first. Seeing that this quote was spoken at a time where relevant, I cant necessarily think of a current situation where this exact quote could be relevant. However, similar thinking applies in regards to safety. For instance, with the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. By killing him, I’m sure we made parts of the world safer, but have we sacrificed some of our safety in regards to his followers?

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”
    I really like this quote, because of its recanting of the morals our ancestors planted. I think this quote is entirely true, and relates quite closely with the last quote. I think a situation where this could be related today would be the passing of Tennessee’s “Don’t say gay” law. I think that it is utterly ridiculous for a state to ban even conversation on a topic that everyone eventually is forced to discuss. It’s very obvious that this is a direct violation of the first amendment. But if a teacher or student uses this asa defense for this, they could be fired or suspended. I don’t think that it’s fair for people in political power to dictate what is or isn’t said in a classroom. They are stripping the teachers and students of their freedom, which is exactly what this quote is stating.

    “We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent.”
    Short, sweet, and to the point. This quote completely sums up the current condition of Americans today as well as the condition of Americans during this time period. I think it is amazing how much we haven’t changed since this broadcast. Over fifty years, and no progress to show for it. There is no single situation to tie this to. Look in the households of americans now and even then. Those are the situations. Greed and laziness have taken over our world. We are no longer about morals, but about placement. We always have to be first, and are no doubt smug about it once we’ve reached our so-called “goals.” This quote still rings at true today as it did fifty long years ago. And unless we are willing to make some serious changes, it ill still be true in another fifty years.
36. Declan G May 23, 2011 at 2:28 am

    1. 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. (See it now broadcast) My take on this quote is that you can relate it to our economic recession and other hard times facing the country. This quote is telling people to remember the vision the founding fathers had and no matter how poor the situation. When the quote says “We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason” its meant that even though there’s not a bright future ahead, like the recession of recent where many things don’t seem bright, you could read this quote and just focus on your work and just let what happens happen. I feel that the failing economy is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy, where people panic and lose sight of what’s really important, and make what they don’t want to come true, become reality. An example is if an expert claims that a company is going to fail because of stock loss and you pull your stock out, then you have lost sight of what you’ve been investing in because an expert scares you off. So the relation of this quote to now is that we can’t be afraid of the recession at hand but just work as hard as we possibly can at what we do best.
    2. If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status. Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought. (Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953). I feel that this quote has to do with gays in this era. The quote was aimed Asians and African Americans but today relates to the outcast of our society, gays. I also believe that what the founding fathers meant by freedom was freedom to the white man and the white man only. But in todays world the gay is the typical outcast/joke. I actually believe that people who hate gays the most might possibly be gay, why else would they try to show such distaste to someone that they have nothing to do with. I personally think being gay is weird but it doesn’t effect me in the slightest bit so what’s it matter? They can’t married or are taken seriously. But in the second part of the quote confidence is spoken of and for someone who is gay and tells other people about it, they should be able to be confidant enough that nothing bad will come of it “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox” I think that this part applies to the gays of today because they aren’t the norm and if we don’t treat them as we would want to be treated then where going against what the constitution says and being un American.
    3. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful. (Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 1958.) I feel that this quote completely applies to day without any paraphrasing or reading between the lines. Every day the average American probably watches about two hours of television. Most of it is pointless. The top watched TV shows are comedies that we watch and get not educational return here are exception like sixty minuets and some other news programs but for the most part we are just watching a box of flashing lights and getting dummer. I also feel that television is a tool in which intolerance is fought by though. Many politicians and important talk show host go on the air publically and dismiss people who are intolerant. For example people from HLN completely dismissed the pastor from Florida that wanted to burn the Karan in Dearborn. Television is also a good relaxing tool after a hard days work, but doesn’t need to be obsessed over. So what was said came true and from watching TV Americans is losing intelligence, but its hard earned and you only have one life to live so why get so worried about something like that.
37. Emily Novick May 23, 2011 at 6:30 am

    See it Now: The first quote reminds me of FDR. I know that there are many relative events happening right now that can also be linked to it *cough* Voldemort’s rise to power *cough* but I feel that FDR’s quote: “The only thing to fear is fear itself” really grabs the essence of this speech. The most important reason we should be afraid of Communism is because of the fear that lawmakers have. That fear drove McCarthy off the wall and made this country petrified; going in such radical opposition of Communism that we become more and more tyrannical. This reminds me of an event that happened sort of recently. After the fall of an important figure, the government really cracked down. After Voldemort fell, Barty Crouch became obsessed with hunting Death Eaters. He didn’t give them fair trials and the wizarding community was just so relieved that action was being taken that they supported Crouch. Fear drove logic out of Crouch’s and the wizarding community’s mind, as it did to McCarthy and 1950s Americans. Our only fear should be if that was ever to happen again. Oh wait it already has…

    15th Anniversary Show: To play the Devil’s Advocate, freedom has to stop at some point. If you look at it from a certain perspective, a single man with a successful business could say that he has the freedom to cut down millions of forests, or pay whatever he wants to his workers. On the flip side, wouldn’t school be awesome if the students had the freedom to bring a yoga ball to school and use it as a chair/transporter for the day. I’m sure the teachers would just shrug and smile because we have that freedom. Sadly, we don’t. Not all restrictions to our freedom is a bad thing. We all need to make necessary sacrifices. This wasn’t a popular concept in the late 1800s/early 1900s and that’s where you get the robber barons, a whole mess of child labor, and horrible conditions for the vast amount of poor people. I believe that there is no set perfect balance of infringing on freedoms, it depends on the situation, but what McCarthy did, what Unbridge did, and what the security is doing now, passed the line.

    Speech at Radio: For a paper for English, we were to do a social critique. Mine was this almost exactly, but with foggy ideas, random details, and written like it was done the night before (Psssh I’m not a procrastinator. Proof? I’m doing this Monday morning at 12 something… I could have waited longer). Anyways, this is what I wanted to convey  In conclusion to the sentences above, I agree. I’ll admit that I’m not doing much to help the cause by drooling over Kurt/Blaine in Glee and watching amusing History channel conspiracy theories instead of C-Span but I do wish that somebody (maybe the government) could post some information on what’s going on in a clear, non bias manner. Even though the T.V these days is mostly used for entertainment, there are some really educational and intelligent programs out there. Like yesterday I was having a blast watching Zaboomafoo, The Magic School Bus, and How the Earth was Made. I feel like school doesn’t teach me as much in a month! Anyways, Americans need to get off of their lazy behinds and find out what’s happening! The Flobots agree 
38. Alexandre Rochaix May 23, 2011 at 7:02 am

    1. “We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.”
    This has been a problem during every period of crisis in history. People are always reasonable until fear turns a group into a mob, which as Edgar A. Poe said, “The nose of a mob is it’s imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led.” What leads most mobs are the fear propaganda, which people like McCarthy exploited and some like Sacco and Venzetti fell victim to. This became a problem after the 9/11 attacks with the PATRIOT act, which now allowed accusations and hearsay to become proof enough for investigation without a warrant. Many times this was abused because innocent peoples belongings were taken and confiscated for “security” purposes that had nothing to do with what the investigators had originally been there for. Along with abuse came the racism and stereotypes, which sadly is present among police and detectives. After these attacks, anyone with relation to the middle east suffered extensive violation of their rights on the account of their possible affiliation. This violation of rights based on nothing also happened during the first red scare in the 1910’s, where any person that had possibly subscribed the communist papers was considered a full fledged communist.

    2. “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.”
    This is something that this country has had problems with in the past, where it wants to tell some to be quiet for their actually hateful and terrible ideas, while they want just one idealism to lead the people. This is normal, but the problem is that freedom of speech has no limits or restrictions, so it needs to include every aspect of it: the wonderful and disgusting, and the pretty and the ugly. Some racist groups we want nothing to do with them, some eco-friendly groups we want to be associated with. But this all has to with what is popular and acceptable for a time period, because people know that once they start asking regulation on their freedoms, that the government will go too far as usual and our rights will have almost dissapeared. A true democracy accepts all opinions, so no matter how ugly or how pretty they must all have a voice.

    3. “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.”
    This quote i found to very accurate of our current state of being. Television tried to become informative, but became corrupted too quickly and started making the news that we needed to hear factually incorrect to appeal to our lazy minds. The television has become a past-time, so efficient in entertainment that we can see the hours go by when we want them to. But then we get off the couches ad realize that television really did just waste a huge chunk of time, and that all you remember is a few funny or dramatic lines. To conclude, the problem is not that we didn’t try, is that we tried and failed at delivering accurate information without the temptation of easy big-buck drama and comedy shows overtaking those informative sessions. Some fought back, so the compromise ended up ruining the facts so as to make them more dramatic, almost like a regular tv show.
39. Emily Kakos May 23, 2011 at 7:17 am

    “We will not walk in fear, one of another”
    This statement is crazy as of the past decade. People have become paranoid, frightened, and intimidated by other people of different races and ethnicities. We are going against everything this statement says when we discriminate against people; we actually are living and walking in fear of the person next to us. Before nine eleven, we all chilled in a peaceful America. Our country was so proud of the fact that we were one of the most diverse nations in the world. Then, we started giving up our basic rights and freedoms in the name of security. Airplanes became a nightmare, people were searched for fun really or because they looked remotely middle eastern. Pat downs were aggressive and all of the sudden the government was allowed to search your telephone email conversations, medical and financial records. All in the name of us being safe.All in the name of our outstanding fear of people in our own country. Just like the red scare, and our fear of communists, we repeated history times ten in our fear of terrorism on American soil. As usual, we didn’t learn from our mistakes, and instead of concentrating our efforts on the real threat, we allowed congress to pass the Patriot Act. Even though it is set to expire the 29th of May, this year, our fear of one another will most likely end up renewing it indefinitely.
    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country cost us the confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought”
    This quote reminds me of Terry Jones. Pastor Jones declared he would burn 200 Qurans on the 2010 anniversary of 9/11. After a bunch of pleas from various world leaders to reconsider his decision, Pastor Jones said he would never burn a Quran. Then he reconsidered, again, and burnt one in the sanctuary of his Church. As a result of the burning, protesters in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan attacked the United Nations Assistance Mission, killing at least 30 people and injuring at least 150 people. Even though this is a bad situation, Pastor Jones has every right to express himself in whatever way he wants. He has the right to practice whatever religion and believe whatever he wants and if we start denying that to our citizens, people from other places won’t look at us the same way. We’re supposed to let people practice what they want in America, wars have been fought for this.
    “and we must at all costs shield the sensitive citizens from anything that is unpleasant”
    This, I believe, is a good rule/quote. Today we are constantly censoring and shielding people from the bad things in the world. We have a rating based on age for getting into a theatre and watching certain movies. There is a certain age that kids are allowed to drink and smoke. Even though he was saying censorship was bad-ish, I think that in some cases, like the ones stated above, censorship can be a good thing.
40. geoffwickersham (Post author) May 23, 2011 at 8:23 am

    “There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities.”
    Despite Ed Murrow’s statement that citizens cannot shrink away from their responsibilities, many Americans today are doing just that. The most basic responsibility of a “citizen of a republic” is to be law abiding. However, many people continue to violate laws and be imprisoned. As a result, many jails are overflowing with inmates. Another simple responsibility of Americans is to vote in their democracy. Only 55-65% of eligible voters cast their votes in the 2008 Presidential elections. Another key responsibility is to take care of oneself and your family. This essential obligation is even being neglected by many Americans. More people are on welfare than ever before. Child abuse and neglect rates are also on the rise. Many Americans are not taking control of their own lives, and are suffering the consequences. However, too much irresponsibility could severely hurt the United States. United States citizens owe it to themselves and their country to be more responsible.

    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox…”
    This quote relates to the USA PATRIOT Act passed following the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Although it is logical that the government would want to restrict terrorism and make it easier for terrorists to be apprehended, this act encroached on the personal freedoms of Americans. Law enforcement agencies were granted easier access to citizen’s communications records, and anything that seemed “wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox” could be found suspicious. Anyone who spoke out against the government could have been regarded as a terrorist, simply because they don’t agree with the course of action taken by the United States government. Even though the paranoia caused by 9-11 has died down, this attitude continues today. People who challenge the government are viewed as threats. Minorities are still suppressed, although not nearly as much as they once were. People regarded as weird or different are still cast out of society. Society is making improvements to its acceptance of difference, buy catastrophic events eliminated much of that progress.

    “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 quote about television programming in the 1950s is related to today. Much of the content on T.V. is simply for entertainment value, and it shields people from acquiring an accurate representation of the world. As was mentioned later in the same speech, much of the television programming at the peak hours today has nothing to do with education. Entertaining shows are more popular, so networks earn more money from advertisers, who are willing to pay more to reach more viewers. People don’t like to watch educational programs, and it shows up in the ratings. Compare the viewing audience of educational channels such as PBS, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel with those of big networks such as Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC, and the difference is huge. The difference in programming is also huge. Big networks broadcast dramas, comedies, game shows and “reality” shows that are nothing like the real world. These provide a skewed mental outlook for viewers on the world. On the contrast, lesser watched channels show informative content. These trends speak not only to the habits of people who produce television, but also to the people who watch it.

    Andrew “House” Hausman
41. Larry Geist May 23, 2011 at 9:08 am

    “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.”

    This quote works in context with the border issue we have now. In the huge uproar of how we should be protecting our border and find illegal immigrants so we can put them back in their own country, we began accusing people and passed a law in Arizona that stated that an officer pulling somebody over for anything could ask for their proof of residence in the United States. This seems like a parinoid move to root out people we don’t want, much like the Red Scare did in the 50’s.

    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.”

    This quote relates to the free speech we have, and the lack of free speech inforced by the communists. In our pursuit to find the communists, we took everything that anybody said against the U.S. as a form of allegiance to the USSR. Right now, free speech is a blurred line. How far can it go before what people say is actually harmful to the country? Who can actually say what the line is to this ambiguous right? But if we start prosecuting anything negitive about our country that is said, we’ll be no better than the oppressors we’re fighting to get rid of.

    “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.”

    This quote is a reference to how today, we mostly use T.V. to get away from the outside world. While this isn’t a bad thing, we can’t be completely shut off and put into a false sense of security. We have to know what’s going on around us, and be educated enough to understand it. T.V. can’t just be entertainment (even though it’s what we love.) Public television is important, because most of it is educational and informative. We have to remember to keep at least some educational T.V. and not let our lives become a drama.
42. Erick Dagenais May 23, 2011 at 10:10 am

    See It Now –
    The speech well describes a problem that we have in our own country. “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.” We do all we can to try to restore freedom in peace in other countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, but we haven’t established our own freedom back at home. There are many people who fight to try to get freedoms that we don’t have. Some people get discriminated because of their religion or because of their gender. Studies still show that a woman will receive lower pay than a man for the same job. We should make sure we fix our own problems first before getting involved in other problems in the world.

    Ford 50th anniversary –
    I think that this is a well said statement. In the past, the United States has discriminated against others races and has criticized methods or ideas that were different from the norm. This has weakened the bond between America and other countries. The Asian continent showed hatred to America in the past due to the racism toward Japanese, Korea and Chinese individuals, and the involvement of the U.S. in the Pilipino independence. The racism towards African Americans and Blacks in general has weakened the trust in the American government. The slave trade had started this hatred, and the prolonging of it into the 50’s and 60’s, with the segregation of places in the south. One example of an unorthodox idea in the U.S. was when John Scopes wanted to teach evolution. When this was put on trial, many Americans broke out in rage and lost trust in the government when the trial wasn’t decided in their favor.

    Radio-Television –
    I think that this is a good description of how TV is used to the advantage of those who broadcast on it, which can still be applied to today. TV today is just full of shows that try to entertain the most people possible, and try to produce the most drama possible to keep the person watching the show want to watch more. Shows that are actually educational and that require you to think are deemed as boring and unimportant. Like the speech says: “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.” It is up to the person watching TV to decide what they want to watch, and it’s their problem if they want to watch the shows that don’t bring you any good.
43. Ben H. May 23, 2011 at 10:30 am

    1. Upon reading an excerpt from one of Edward Murrow’s “See It Now” broadcasts, I’m inexplicably drawn to the phrase, “He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully.” One of the first things that comes to mind thinking about present application when I read this passage is the infamous and now late Osama bin Laden. A thick atmosphere of paranoia still lingered over all the earth from the just only recently ended Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and from various projects in foreign fronts, such as Operation: Desert Storm. bin Laden and al Qaeda took advantage of this paranoia and fear and hit the United States where and when we least expected, on our own soil. The fear and tension around the world skyrocketed as we could only watch in horror as the Twin Towers in New York City collapsed in on themselves.

    2. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” At this crucial point in our history when we as a people need more than ever to unite against enemies both foreign and domestic, all we can think to do is tear each other down. Even now, there are bills going through state legislatures trying to ban same-sex marriage. While I am not personally a supporter of same-sex marriage, I still realize that to try and limit it could be a dangerous thing. On the same subject, there’s the bill going through Tennessee that is trying to ban teachers from discussing homosexuality in school before the ninth grade. Is that really necessary? It is a tender subject, but it should be treated as just that, not a taboo. If the large LGBT community is discriminated in the United States (which it is, in spades), then we lose their support, which could prove to be dangerous.

    3. “Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.” Reading this quote, I am reminded of a brief segment from a Michael Moore movie (the one we watched last trimester, I think), where the question is proposed. Will we as a people be remembered for the somber reality of home foreclosure and poverty, or for the (admittedly amusing) frivolity that is the “Cat Flushing a Toilet” video? Our culture tends to be one that shies away from the reality of world events, opting instead to immerse ourselves in fantasy worlds and distracting ourselves with aforementioned toilet kittens and the likes. This begs the question, when will we wake up?
44. Jacob Seid May 23, 2011 at 10:32 am

    I found Murrow’s words, “the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves”, to be quite a meaningful and purposeful quote. This is because that in life our actions have consequences and we need to accept the fact that we as individuals have messed up on occasion. Take for example you are playing at a piano recital and someone coughs during the hardest part of your piece you’re playing and inevitably you jack it up. Yes you could blame the cougher that his coughing highly distracted you, but you need to just accept the fact that you may have just not learned the piece well enough or that you are easily distracted. If you realize your problems and realize that you– and only you, can be the one to fix them. Only then you can fully take responsibility of your actions. Although many people do it, scapegoating is a fault which people should find themselves doing and correct it. This quote is so important because like in the movie, it applies to the world of today because it is just the proper way to lead life mainly because it is fair and morally correct. For another modern day to day quote i found this: “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.” to be quite important. Why this quote is so important is because it says a lot about human nature as well, not just America. Sometimes people say they stand for something that pertains to everyone else. Basically their actions are done for others rather than themselves even if they think that it pertains to themselves. This would be “deserting it home”. What this quote is trying to teach is that yes it is good to promote what you believe and do good and give onto others; however, if you can’t apply it to yourself first, then what do you know and how can you give onto others because, really, you don’t know how it affects you. Yes it may seem narcissistic to only worry about yourself first; however, one wouldn’t recommend a restaurant which you haven’t been to and enjoyed the food, simply because you believe it is a good restaurant simply because the commercial that it was good. That would be stupid. The same goes for this quote. You cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. On a more personal level, one cannot go through life living it through what they believe is the right for others to do, and not do it themselves. That’s just wrong and people should live according to what they believe and do for themselves which is good so they can give it back to others. For these reasons, that is why this quote is meaningful.
45. Katia Lev May 23, 2011 at 11:49 am

    “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.”

    While using McCarthy’s name wouldn’t make much sense in today’s political world, the meaning behind the quote can easily be applied to what goes on in politics today. While we can gloss over what happened in history, there is no denial that what happened in our history shapes what is happening in our present or what happens in our future. If there is something we do not agree with, something that is wrong or unjust, it will never be changed if people stay silent and wait for somebody else to make the first move. The only people we are hurting is ourselves if, in the future, our world deteriorates into what we feared most it would become. No matter if your opinion is wrong, right, popular, or not; complaining about the state of the government or the world is futile unless you also speak up to try to change it.

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”

    America is all about democracy and freedom for all people, and that cannot be achieved if the classifier “all people” is then subdivided into sections like “white protestant male” or “gay” or “Asian-American”. All these people, whether white, black, brown, or purple fight literally every day for the protection of our country or metaphorically to gain the same rights as their next-door neighbors and if they do not get the same rights as that neighbor, the idea of democracy becomes a joke. We lose the confidence of these men and women but we also don’t realize that these same men and women populate the entire country, creating the most diverse society out of any other in the world and without them, we couldn’t have won half of the wars we fought in.

    “We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.”

    This statement, while humorous, is the one I agree with completely from this speech. We are more likely to turn on the sports or reality television shows than we are to turn on national news to listen to the disasters occurring around the world. Not only that, but our own newscasters hide those disasters from us, or attempt to gloss over them as though we are children too young to handle it. It’s actually insulting if you stop to think about it, but how many people got up at 3 or 4 in the morning to watch the royal wedding? And how many of these same people would get up at that ungodly hour to then in turn watch the bombing of a small seemingly insignificant country? This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the entertainment part of the news, but that we also need to stay well-informed about tragedies around the world, as much as we might not like to watch somebody else suffer.
46. Calvin Greer May 23, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    “It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly….We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.” This quote hits very close to many of the current steroid scandals going on throughout professional sports, the grandest of which being Barry Bonds two years ago, as well as others like Sammy Sosa, Lance Armstrong, Mark McGuire, etc. The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one—many members of the public would just rip apart Barry Bonds on his steroid use without even knowing that he had done it yet. Fans would boo him and announcers would discredit him from the hall of fame and this was all before he had even been proven guilty. Granted, yes he was proven guilty later, but I think in this case, as well as many others (Sosa, Armstrong, CLEMENS), the public needs to keep in mind the thought of innocent until proven guilty before they turn on some of the biggest names in the country.

    “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.” A big argument right now as to freedom of individuals is gay marriage. Some states in our country deny this right to human beings—human beings simply in search of their own love and future—and I think it is very wrong. The second part of the quote is the part that I think the government should be most cautious of. Why should gay people stay loyal to their country if they’re denied the right by them to be legally married? Our ancestors fought to free themselves because of persecution, and therefore it is against our country’s code and rights to persecute any human being for their views, choices, etc. There is no harm to legalizing gay marriage, and therefore I think our country should do it for loyalty’s sake.
    “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.” This is still VERY true today! Our country’s people (case in point—my sister) become EMOTIONALLY attached to members of the media! Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, so many people cloud our countries judgement of what’s important! The fat part is very accurate, too. Our country needs to spend less time in front of the TV learning about “pop culture”, and more time outside, in school, other places, getting educated! What a novel concept!!
47. Ophelie Ovize May 23, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    “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.”- See it Now broadcast, March 9 1954. After reading the excerpt, I found that that quote was really nicely put and stood out next to the others that were already good. I think that sometimes United States wants to help out too much when it isn’t on solid grounds. For example, America joined the war in Libya while they are still in Afghanistan and Iraq. While at the same time, they shot down Osama Bin Ladin. I am not trying to say that America shouldn’t be giving a hand to people in need but maybe they should pull out a bit to guarantee safety.
    “ “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.” – Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953. I like this quote because it is suggesting that there is a difference between evil and not right. During the 50’s, Americans saw that Communism was a terrible thing that was lead by awful people. But this quote is actually trying to delimit the possibility that made its not evil but simply just a bad idea lead by bad people and doing a good job at running it which truly was the case in Communism in Germany and Russia.
    ““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.” – Speech at Radio – Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 1958. I find this quote to be great because it is the same case as it was back then. People literally live with TV. Everyone seems to be a tv addict these days and without it people are bored and can’t distract themselves. For example, there are individual tv’s in planes now (not that I’m going to complain), but it has become the past time for the majority of the population worldwide. Tv actually constructs our thoughts and beliefs, whether its from a presentation of the new fashion style to a political view from another country. Morrow would have wished that Tv wasn’t going to become like that, sadly with all the programs and shows out there, it isn’t possible.
48. Ben Cooper May 23, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    See it Now broadcast, March 9 1954

    For a good portion of my life, there has been much irrational fear and distrust of Muslims. I know that the primary cause of this is the 9/11 attack in 2001. Consequently, many Americans have the perception that all Muslims are radical and violent. A very visible, and somewhat embarrassing sign of those times is the racial profiling in airports in the form of “random” security checks. In the See it Now broadcast, McCarthy’s methods of red hunting weren’t too different than our leader’s recent war efforts against the middle east. “His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism.”

    Ford Fiftieth Anniversary Show, CBS and NBC, June 1953

    One of the most upsetting issues to me in our current society is the treatment of gays. Unfortunately, most of the homophobia originates from religion (most notably Christianity). I don’t see why Gay Marriage is illegal in America, and frankly I find it embarrassing. The problem with America in the eyes of other countries ( especially in Europe) has to do with its slowness to stop immoral practices. Britain abolished slavery before we did, and civil union or marriages are legal in Germany, Britain, and Spain to name a few. Intolerance and hatred fly in the face of what our founding fathers fought for. “Every act that denies or limits the freedom of the individual in this country costs us the . . . confidence of men and women who aspire to that freedom and independence of which we speak and for which our ancestors fought.”

    Speech at Radio-Television News Directors Association, Chicago, October 15, 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. Over 50 years later this quote still rings disturbingly true. For example, in the news, celebrities and their personal lives are constantly considered more important than world shaking global events (ie Charlie Sheen and the revolutions in the Middle East). Seeing as how this quote came from 50 years ago but is still equally true today, I don’t think this sad fact will ever change. In places where people have the ability to isolate themselves from the horrors of the world, humans seemingly always choose to do so. Whether by choice or by cultural indoctrination, Americans will almost always avoid or miss the issues of the world.
49. Nathan Willey May 23, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    1. My first impression from this speech came from the sentence “We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason”. This sentence is very powerful because it can relate to the United States in so many different ways. When September 11th came, the country was sent into a state of panic just like we were during the Red Scare. We are afraid of the terrorists and they were afraid of communists. If we let the fear get out of control, then bad things will ensue like racial profiling and hateful thoughts. I believe that we can all take a lesson from this speech and remember the famous words of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” If we can learn that, then this entire country will be a better place for everyone in the world.

    2. This short paragraph is very important for the people back then to think about and for us in the present to think about. If we act racially insensitive then countries that might want to be friends with our great country may think that were not the kind of people that they want to associate with. We need as many countries as we can get to have good relationships with. If we ignore that then we will end up alone, sad, and ignorant. If we are able to get past all of these things, then our country will be able to prosper because the entire world will be able to prosper. If we can do just this, then we may be able to finally achieve world peace.

    3. This article is also very important. We, even more so today, are too absorbed in technology and what the media has to say about everything. The media, though we wouldn’t like to admit it, sensationalizes everything. They blow everything out of proportion for the sake of a good news report and this threatens to throw the country into a state of shock. If we could learn how achieve the facts instead of fiction then the world would be a much better place because not only would we be able to figure things out for ourselves easier but be able to solve international crises easier because everyone will know exactly what happened. Unfortunately, this is virtually impossible to achieve it becomes our job as the American people to not get consumed by overblown news stories and to at least attempt to find out what actually happened in each situation.
50. Tharron Combs May 23, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    See it Now-
    “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 quote brings to my mind the cause of gay rights in America, and the standoffishness that one sees not only politicians, but in the common American, in addressing the subject. This makes me angry, because I don’t believe that the people who founded this country would have taken such weak stances on this issue. I would much rather that everyone had their own opinion on this issue and that they were able to support it.

    Ford Fiftieth Anniversary-
    “If we confuse dissent with disloyalty — if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox — if we deny the essence of racial equality then hundreds of millions in Asia and Africa who are shopping about for a new allegiance will conclude that we are concerned to defend a myth and our present privileged status.” This quote reminds me of the way that Americans today so often attack other Americans with ideas that are not those of the average American, and especially those that have belief in economic systems and systems of government that are different from our own. This bothers me because once there were people who came to this land called America with radical ideas and they built what I consider to be one of the greatest nations in history, so it is foolish to reprimand and ostracize those who think differently from others.

    Radio-Television News Directors Association-
    “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.”
    This quote reminds me of the way that people today use television, and how very different it could be if people chose to watch programming that teaches things instead of programming that is educationally worthless. T