Power of the Small: A reason to trust

By Diana Nelson Apr 6, 2006, 15:42 GMT

Seems to this writer that a news producer who speaks his own mind privately while employed by a nationally recognized news organization is certainly more trustworthy than one who defers to the 'quid pro quo' of the current American political climate.

Whether or not John Green favors George Bush and Madeleine Albright isn't the issue. The issue is being able to speak ones mind freely and without fear of retribution no matter who you are or what you do for a living.

Our country needs this freedom in these times more than ever. To call Mr. Green's comments "inappropriate" and "embarrassing" belabors the issue of freedom to speak ones mind which daily becomes less of an impulse towards truth and more about considering the prices one pays for speaking what one feels to be true.

This is how we lose our freedom in America, through fear, not through legislation. Fear is the first warning that our Constitutional freedoms are being diminished. Legislation follows because fear to speak ones mind enters the collective psyche.

Fear makes all things possible, such as radical religions of any sort, dictatorships, and historically malignant movements such as Naziism.

As an American striving to live without fear in today's increasingly fearsome world of NSA spying and constant attacks on American privacy, this writer would appreciate Mr. Green's refusal to apologize for remarks made in private.

This writer would appreciate Mr. Green standing up on his hind legs and demanding to know why his personal and private remarks have anything to do with the rest of us.

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