Good Night and Good Luck
Submitted to the New York Times for an op-ed piece.
I have just returned from seeing the docu-drama Good Night and Good Luck, the film about Edward R. Murrow and his confrontation with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the mid to late 1950s. To me it was a welcome review of history that I was familiar with, as I was in college during this period of time. It brought back memories of fear throughout our society, not only of the menace of communism, but of the menace of red baiting and accusations as practiced by the junior senator from Wisconsin. Lives and careers were destroyed by the senator and his committee when people in and out of government were wrongly, and without proof, accused of being communists, associated with suspected (and unproven) communists, or related to suspected (and unproven) communists. Belonging to an organization the Junior Senator did not agree with, would open the door to being publicly shamed on TV, without any recourse or chance to defend oneself.
The film makes me ashamed of how far we have not progressed during the past fifty years. Of course communism and the Soviet Union have all but disappeared, but the ignorance and fear that the illegal and demagogic search for communists and fellow travelers in this country has been reborn and replaced by the accusation of being a supporter of terrorism and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Today the attacking Senator McCarthy has been reincarnated in the words of Vice-President Cheney. The senator’s chief interrogator, Roy Cohen, has been replaced by Attorney General Gonzales, and columnist O’Reilly has been superseded by the likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. President Bush has not replaced then President Eisenhower, who stood up for due process and habeas corpus, which quite evidently the current administration does not believe in.
Look at our great country today. Even if you support our troops but not the pre-emptive war in Iraq, you are said to be soft on terrorism. If you are against unwarranted spying by the NSA you are accused of endangering our country, and opening the door for terrorists. Say anything questioning the actions of the president and you can wind up in prison without those rights guaranteed by our constitution.
What happened during the nineteen-fifties was terrible, but today we have sunk further into the abyss of bullying and demagoguery. We have learned nothing from history, and as the saying goes, “we are bound to repeat it.” The shame of it is that those people who need to see and learn from this film will never see it, and if they did, would not be capable of identifying themselves with it
I have just returned from seeing the docu-drama Good Night and Good Luck, the film about Edward R. Murrow and his confrontation with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the mid to late 1950s. To me it was a welcome review of history that I was familiar with, as I was in college during this period of time. It brought back memories of fear throughout our society, not only of the menace of communism, but of the menace of red baiting and accusations as practiced by the junior senator from Wisconsin. Lives and careers were destroyed by the senator and his committee when people in and out of government were wrongly, and without proof, accused of being communists, associated with suspected (and unproven) communists, or related to suspected (and unproven) communists. Belonging to an organization the Junior Senator did not agree with, would open the door to being publicly shamed on TV, without any recourse or chance to defend oneself.
The film makes me ashamed of how far we have not progressed during the past fifty years. Of course communism and the Soviet Union have all but disappeared, but the ignorance and fear that the illegal and demagogic search for communists and fellow travelers in this country has been reborn and replaced by the accusation of being a supporter of terrorism and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Today the attacking Senator McCarthy has been reincarnated in the words of Vice-President Cheney. The senator’s chief interrogator, Roy Cohen, has been replaced by Attorney General Gonzales, and columnist O’Reilly has been superseded by the likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. President Bush has not replaced then President Eisenhower, who stood up for due process and habeas corpus, which quite evidently the current administration does not believe in.
Look at our great country today. Even if you support our troops but not the pre-emptive war in Iraq, you are said to be soft on terrorism. If you are against unwarranted spying by the NSA you are accused of endangering our country, and opening the door for terrorists. Say anything questioning the actions of the president and you can wind up in prison without those rights guaranteed by our constitution.
What happened during the nineteen-fifties was terrible, but today we have sunk further into the abyss of bullying and demagoguery. We have learned nothing from history, and as the saying goes, “we are bound to repeat it.” The shame of it is that those people who need to see and learn from this film will never see it, and if they did, would not be capable of identifying themselves with it
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 2:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home