|
|
Political |
|
|
|
(Editor’s note: Stuart James has a radio program in Chattanooga TN. He is referring to that in this column.) Free Speech America is a program designed to celebrate our right of Free Speech. Our guests and listeners are invited to participate in a discussion, a discussion designed to entertain, to inform and to celebrate our right to express our thoughts and opinions in a free and open society. Starting last week, I made the decision to close each show in honor of Edward R. Murrow by using his phrase “Good night and good luck.” The following is a transcript of my closing comments for the broadcast. I hope you will read these words. I hope they motivate you to speak out and be heard. The following is the transcript of my “Good night and good luck” message: “I have been doing this broadcast for almost a year. During the year, I have learned a lot about broadcasting. I have discovered broadcasting is a difficult but a rewarding experience. I have also discovered that there is a power behind the voices broadcasting over our airwaves-whether it is by television, satellite, radio, or the Internet. I have discovered that the Internet is a particularly powerful broadcasting tool. As a part of my broadcasting efforts, I continue to work to make the Internet a powerful tool to allow you to express your thoughts and your ideas- allowing you, within the context of broadcasting, to use your right of free speech. Last night, I watched the movie "Goodnight and Good Luck." I know a little bit about the broadcaster, Edward R. Murrow. The movie is an excellent snapshot into the times in which Edward R. Murrow lived. Murrow is a role model for me. Murrow had an outstanding gift—a gift he used to change the way we think, the way we saw our world. Murrow uncovered the unconventional methods used by Senator Joe McCarthy in routing out “alleged” communists in our country. He uncovered a threat from within our country, by using his right of free speech, by using freedom of the press. Moreover, like so many other broadcasters, he stood up to a powerful man showing this nation that McCarthy was abusing his power to achieve unjust means. If it weren't for Murrow, McCarthy's rampage would have continued, he would have continued to persecute innocent people. Murrow is an inspiration for this program-an inspiration because he stood for freedom of speech. In the context of this program we only have one hour, and there are times when you participate that I wish I could allow each of you an hour on the program. I appreciate every phone call, every comment, every debate, and every disagreement. When you participate, or when guests on the show participate, we open up a line of discussion that is helpful to us as a nation regardless of whether we are talking politics or music. I do this because I believe in free thought, I believe in free speech, a right allowing us all to express our ideas. We live in trying times- I to hear about the abrogation of our rights under the Constitution, the secret operation of a president who acts behind closed doors. Unlike his predecessors Franklin d Roosevelt and Harry Truman, this President wants to operate in secret-ignoring Congress and the people of this great country. He is using terrorism as a shield, a shield to hide an agenda to restrict your rights and your freedoms. We live in times where children are uninsured, where millions of people have no health insurance, and children suffer for no reason—all of this is happening when we have the greatest health care program in the world. We live in times where the president appears in public, and law enforcement officials and Secret Service agents remove his opponents from a crowd, stopping the protest so it looks clean for the president to appear in public—so it looks like we are in lock step with his ideas—we are quashing debate, and dissent. It is, after all, debate and dissent that made our country what it is—a land of freedom. We live in times where both the Republican and Democratic Party seem out of touch with Americans, our values, and our views. We live in a time where today an election occurred in a small county in the state of Tennessee with extremely low voter turnout while Iraqis faced death to vote for a government that still does not serve the Iraqis needs. So I have decided that I would like to borrow Edward R. Murrow's great closing, using it to close each of these programs. I do because we live in trying times, I do so because Mr. Murrow represents everything about free speech that we are trying to do here on this program. I do so because we need to wake up to what is happening around us, we need a call to stand up and be heard. Complacency is our enemy; it is a cancer that can destroy us. I am not Edward R. Murrow; I will never profess to be Edward R. Murrow. I do this part time, and I do the best job I can-I make mistakes, and often times I will say or write things that later I regret. Many other times, I say or write things that I am proud of- regardless of what I do, I am proud of everyone who listens, and everyone who takes a minute out of their day to participate, to express their ideas, and their opinions-I am proud of everyone who exercises their right of free speech. So goodnight and good luck. I'm Stuart James and this has been Free Speech America.” As host of Free Speech America I hope you choose to … Stand up and be heard.
|
