What Is America To Me

The howdy and the handshake
The air a feeling free
And the right to speak your mind out
That's America to me
"The House I Live In"
It was about sixty years ago when the composer and lyricist (Earl Robinson and Lewis Allen, respectively) of this song wrote the lines, "...And the right to speak your mind out That's America to me".

This is a paragraph taken from an editorial in the New York Times today:

"The PEN American Center, the literary organization committed to free expression, is honoring an American most people in this country have never read or even heard of: Laura Berg. She is a psychiatric nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital who was threatened with a sedition investigation after she wrote a letter to the editor denouncing the Bush administration's bungling of Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq war."

Sedition?

For clarification: "Sedition is incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.

Any actions in speech or writing promoting such discontent or rebellion."

The New York Times will report horrid actions taken by this horrid Administration.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin would be thrilled to stifle this voice among others not controlled already by "the really big media guys." Why not allow Rupert to own Newsday?

Will Americans ever hear about Laura Berg from NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox?

The"bad guys" have "confiscated" most of our broadcast media and they would like to own the balance of that and all of the print outlets that they can get their hands on as well.

Thank you Laura Berg.

Thank you the New York Times.

And as far as the US Television Networks are concerned, thank you as well for your continuing efforts to serve in "the public interest, convenience, and necessity" by not covering a story like this one. No one in America wants their entertainment schedule interrupted by reporting about silly attempts to abrogate our Constitution.

"And the right to speak your mind out"

Sure we have that right as long as Americans speaks softly in places where no one can hear them.

Norman Horowitz

Comments

[burnt]

Thanks Norman,

Earlier, before reading the NYT editorial post you point to, I had first read Elizabeth Edwards scathing opinion on the state of MSM reporting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/opinion/27edwards.html?

And while yes, I do agree with the point that you make about the NYT stepping up while others have fallen off, I couldn't help but to weigh that against what Elizabeth pointed to as a major failing when she wrote: "News is different from other programming on television or other content in print. It is essential to an informed electorate. And an informed electorate is essential to freedom itself. But as long as corporations to which news gathering is not the primary source of income or expertise get to decide what information about the candidates "sells," we are not functioning as well as we could if we had the engaged, skeptical press we deserve."

I had to include the NYT in her assessment. I also had to conclude that their editorial board's choice for presidential candidacy has affected their news reporting. The bias and slant has been generally evident and their reporting has been subpar to the point of fluff.

Although Elizabeth takes pains to exclude her husband when offering examples, it's my opinion that she had a strong case to include lack of coverage of his campaign as well. So, yes... thank you NYT... but it's not enough. We need to demand higher standards of excellence.

alienated in Seattle

[StephenJK]

HAHAHAH This is ironic. The very administration that is more guilty than anyone in regard to sedition is attempting to stifle Laura Berg by accusing her of the same for merely stating facts about the administrations inability to properly function in the name of it's citizens and military. This is rich. VERY rich.

[Imhotep]

It's only ironic if your not a fascist. Now, that's irony. Peace

[Dap]

))))))))))) BINGO (((((((((((((