Cuvântul "secret" însuşi este respingător într-o societate liberă şi deschisă iar noi, ca popor, ne opunem prin istoria şi moştenirea noastră societăţilor secrete, jurămintelor secrete şi procedurilor secrete.
John F. Kennedy
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John F. Kennedy |
The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association
President John F. Kennedy
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
New York City, April 27, 1961
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:
I appreciate very much your generous invitation to be here tonight.
You bear heavy responsibilities these days and an article I read some time ago reminded me of how particularly heavily the burdens of present day events bear upon your profession.
You may remember that in 1851 the New York Herald Tribune under the sponsorship and publishing of Horace Greeley, employed as its London correspondent an obscure journalist by the name of Karl Marx.
We are told that foreign correspondent Marx, stone broke, and with a family ill and undernourished, constantly appealed to Greeley and managing editor Charles Dana for an increase in his munificent salary of $5 per installment, a salary which he and Engels ungratefully labeled as the "lousiest petty bourgeois cheating."
But when all his financial appeals were refused, Marx looked around for other means of livelihood and fame, eventually terminating his relationship with the Tribune and devoting his talents full time to the cause that would bequeath the world the seeds of Leninism, Stalinism, revolution and the cold war.
If only this capitalistic New York newspaper had treated him more kindly; if only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent, history might have been different. And I hope all publishers will bear this lesson in mind the next time they receive a poverty-stricken appeal for a small increase in the expense account from an obscure newspaper man.
I have selected as the title of my remarks tonight "The President and the Press." Some may suggest that this would be more naturally worded "The President Versus the Press." But those are not my sentiments tonight.
It is true, however, that when a well-known diplomat from another country demanded recently that our State Department repudiate certain newspaper attacks on his colleague it was unnecessary for us to reply that this Administration was not responsible for the press, for the press had already made it clear that it was not responsible for this Administration.
Nevertheless, my purpose here tonight is not to deliver the usual assault on the so-called one party press. On the contrary, in recent months I have rarely heard any complaints about political bias in the press except from a few Republicans. Nor is it my purpose tonight to discuss or defend the televising of Presidential press conferences. I think it is highly beneficial to have some 20,000,000 Americans regularly sit in on these conferences to observe, if I may say so, the incisive, the intelligent and the courteous qualities displayed by your Washington correspondents.
Nor, finally, are these remarks intended to examine the proper degree of privacy which the press should allow to any President and his family.
If in the last few months your White House reporters and photographers have been attending church services with regularity, that has surely done them no harm.
On the other hand, I realize that your staff and wire service photographers may be complaining that they do not enjoy the same green privileges at the local golf courses that they once did.
It is true that my predecessor did not object as I do to pictures of one's golfing skill in action. But neither on the other hand did he ever bean a Secret Service man.
My topic tonight is a more sober one of concern to publishers as well as editors.
I want to talk about our common responsibilities in the face of a common danger. The events of recent weeks may have helped to illuminate that challenge for some; but the dimensions of its threat have loomed large on the horizon for many years. Whatever our hopes may be for the future--for reducing this threat or living with it--there is no escaping either the gravity or the totality of its challenge to our survival and to our security--a challenge that confronts us in unaccustomed ways in every sphere of human activity.
This deadly challenge imposes upon our society two requirements of direct concern both to the press and to the President--two requirements that may seem almost contradictory in tone, but which must be reconciled and fulfilled if we are to meet this national peril. I refer, first, to the need for a far greater public information; and, second, to the need for far greater official secrecy.
I
The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.
But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.
Today no war has been declared--and however fierce the struggle may be, it may never be declared in the traditional fashion. Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired.
If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent.
It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions--by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.
Nevertheless, every democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national security--and the question remains whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed if we are to oppose this kind of attack as well as outright invasion.
For the facts of the matter are that this nation's foes have openly boasted of acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft, bribery or espionage; that details of this nation's covert preparations to counter the enemy's covert operations have been available to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike; that the size, the strength, the location and the nature of our forces and weapons, and our plans and strategy for their use, have all been pinpointed in the press and other news media to a degree sufficient to satisfy any foreign power; and that, in at least in one case, the publication of details concerning a secret mechanism whereby satellites were followed required its alteration at the expense of considerable time and money.
The newspapers which printed these stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible and well-meaning. Had we been engaged in open warfare, they undoubtedly would not have published such items. But in the absence of open warfare, they recognized only the tests of journalism and not the tests of national security. And my question tonight is whether additional tests should not now be adopted.
The question is for you alone to answer. No public official should answer it for you. No governmental plan should impose its restraints against your will. But I would be failing in my duty to the nation, in considering all of the responsibilities that we now bear and all of the means at hand to meet those responsibilities, if I did not commend this problem to your attention, and urge its thoughtful consideration.
On many earlier occasions, I have said--and your newspapers have constantly said--that these are times that appeal to every citizen's sense of sacrifice and self-discipline. They call out to every citizen to weigh his rights and comforts against his obligations to the common good. I cannot now believe that those citizens who serve in the newspaper business consider themselves exempt from that appeal.
I have no intention of establishing a new Office of War Information to govern the flow of news. I am not suggesting any new forms of censorship or any new types of security classifications. I have no easy answer to the dilemma that I have posed, and would not seek to impose it if I had one. But I am asking the members of the newspaper profession and the industry in this country to reexamine their own responsibilities, to consider the degree and the nature of the present danger, and to heed the duty of self-restraint which that danger imposes upon us all.
Every newspaper now asks itself, with respect to every story: "Is it news?" All I suggest is that you add the question: "Is it in the interest of the national security?" And I hope that every group in America--unions and businessmen and public officials at every level-- will ask the same question of their endeavors, and subject their actions to the same exacting tests.
And should the press of America consider and recommend the voluntary assumption of specific new steps or machinery, I can assure you that we will cooperate whole-heartedly with those recommendations.
Perhaps there will be no recommendations. Perhaps there is no answer to the dilemma faced by a free and open society in a cold and secret war. In times of peace, any discussion of this subject, and any action that results, are both painful and without precedent. But this is a time of peace and peril which knows no precedent in history.
II
It is the unprecedented nature of this challenge that also gives rise to your second obligation--an obligation which I share. And that is our obligation to inform and alert the American people--to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well--the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.
No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.
I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers--I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for as a wise man once said: "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.
Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.
This means greater coverage and analysis of international news--for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security--and we intend to do it.
III
It was early in the Seventeenth Century that Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder and the printing press. Now the links between the nations first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all. In that one world's efforts to live together, the evolution of gunpowder to its ultimate limit has warned mankind of the terrible consequences of failure.
And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news--that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.
Eu, de ex,. Am fost in permanenta banat la articolele profesorului din Maryland, pus in alte parti la index pt glume mult mai nevinovate decit cea cu ciorile.
E cazul sa vada si teribilii oameni de bine care imparteau certificate de buna purtare ce- nseamna intransigenta de care dadeau ei dovada. Si, nu in ultimul rind, prof din Maryland nu prea era cunoscut ca cineva cu simtul umorului, deci nu i se poate cumpara ca ar fi facut o poanta, nu, d-l a facut-o cu intentie in cunostiinta, a avut un moment slab si a aratat cine este cu adevarat.
S-a pus o poză cu niște ciori pe un gard, însoțită de mesajul „S-a închis aeroportul din Țăndărei”. De unde și până unde legătura cu acea anume etnie? Nu cumva cei care s-au „autosesizat” și au înfierat cu mânie proletară poza sunt cei care perpetuează ideea că cei din acea etnie ar fi „ciori” sau ce alte apelative li se/își arogă?
Înțeleg, nu permitem atacuri la persoană, aici vorbind despre atacuri directe, cu num eși „pronume”. Dar de aici și până la a interzice libera exprimare pentru că mie mi s-a părut că tonul era nu-știu-cum sau că în poză apărea ceva legat prin folclor de altceva… e un drum extrem de lung.
Poza a fost o glumă. Cui nu-i place, să nu se uite la ea, iar într-un timp oarecare ea o să dispară. Dar s-o ții în atenția publică, să faci atâta bâlci și să te dai atacat de nimeni nu știe cine, e deja de domeniul patologicului. Sau de domeniul trolling-ului cu influențe pan-slaviste.
Am înțeles, nu mai avem voie să vorbim despre ciori, pentru că… se simt unii jigniți. Despre ce nu mai avem voie să vorbim? Urmăm modelul Belarusului și interzicem cuvântul „coronavirus” din vocabular? Interzicem direct orice discuții despre persoanele incomode puterii? Cenzurăm media?
Ce spuneti de asta dle Duminica? Ca doar nu-mi permit sa-l intreb pe Luminatia Sa Imperiala . smile
Ceea ce parea de neimaginat in sinistrii ani `90 , respectiv sa ajunga pe acelasi “podium” politicienii marca PSD simultan cu elita culturala care conform rolului asumat in mod oficial ar fi trebuit stea in coltul opus al ringului, devine acum o realitate bizara.
Cum spunea odata Wittgenstein, faptele in spatiul logic constituie lumea , deci sa ne rezumam la fapte .
Un deputat PSD celebru prin cugetarile sale originale da tonul si mai emite una pe acelasi calapod ( ) numai ca de data aceasta rezultatul ei final s-ar putea sa depaseasca asteptarile :
Ţanțarul ( politic) al deputatului Bacalbasa este ridicat involuntar la rangul de armăsar (intelectual) stârnind o adevarata furtuna mediatica care dezvaluie mai mult decat incearca sa ascunda.
Rezultatul este un florilegiu comic de eschive, retractari , scuze ale celor implicati plus divagatiile revendicative ale aparatorilor lor care contureaza un portret de grup al elitei culturale coalizata in jurul membrilor lor a carui reputatie ar fi fost atacata mișelește de catre adversari .
Inainte de orice concluzie , este de mentionat ca si in acest caz se aplica vechiul aforism grecesc conform caruia marile probleme ale oamenilor nu vin de la fapte ( pe care nimeni nu le contesta in cazul de fata, nici macar protagonistii lor ) ci de la opiniile lor despre fapte.
Cum reactioneaza elita culturii romane ( apud Institutul National pentru Studierea Holocaustului din Romania Elie Wiesel) intr-un caz de postare cu implicatii rasiste ? In mod original.
Protagonistii dramoletei , prinsi cu ocaua mica, invoca scuze hilare ( ” Nu traiesc in Romania – Vladimir Tismaneanu ) si penibile (” am legat-o de situatia noastra de claustrare” – Denisa Comanescu ) fiind nevoiti sa afirme negru pe alb si pentru cine accepta explicatia ca nu au inteles ce au citit ( ” nu m-am gandit profund”, “nu mi-am dat seama de la inceput” , etc.) :
„Însă priviți cum i-au sărit în gât, ca pe arcuri, toți paznicii din oficiu ai moralității publice (s.n.). Toți fariseii care se roagă-n picioare, mulțumind Domnului că ei sunt corecți și fără pată, altfel decât vameșii și păcătoșii. Cine va fi însă mai curând îndreptățit, ei sau cel care, greșind, își cere iertare?”
“Am ajuns să trăim vremuri în care unii dețin adevărul absolut și abia așteaptă greșeala seamănului lor. În care nimeni nu-și vede bârna din ochi, în care strigătul ”crucificați-l!” e zgomotul dominant al vremii”.
” Am trăit să-i văd, în aceeași lună, pe Matei Vișniec numit fascist și pe Denisa Comănescu și Vladimir Tismăneanu numiți rasiști de către oameni care nu au avut nimic de spus pe lume(s.n.), dar care cred că le sunt superiori pentru că ei și numai ei cunosc adevărul (s.n.). Cine te-a pus pe tine, fariseule, să veghezi la puritatea moravurilor? Boborul (s.n.)?”
https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/mircea-cartarescu-sare-in-apararea-prietenului-vladimir-tismaneanu-dupa-postarea-rasista-priviti-cum-i-au-sarit-la-gat-toti-fariseii-2950868
Later edit: După părerea mea, este o problemă de calibrare şi nuanţare. Cărţile anti-rasiste scrise şi publicate de cei doi cântăresc (pt societatea românească) infinit mai mult decât o glumă proastă pe FB. Mai ales că şi-au cerut public scuze, fapt rarisim în spaţiul românesc. Aruncând cu pietre în ei, activiştii pt drepturile minorităţilor nu fac decât să alunge doi aliaţi, doi prieteni…”
https://www.facebook.com/andrei.oisteanu.5/posts/312829546351357
” Ceea ce i s-a întâmplat și i se întâmplă în aceste zile d-lui Vladimir Tismăneanu și, în subsidiar, doamnei Denisa Comânescu, mie mi se pare că seamănă teribil cu campania anti-Mihai Șora din urmă cu câteva luni. Și arată cu câtă voluptate știm să ne devorăm valorile. Care, e adevărat, nu sunt sfinți, nu sunt fără păcat, pot să și greșească. Numai că ele, valorile vreau să zic, chiar și pentru o greșeală (nu, nu îi voi spune nevinovată) trebuie arse pe rug în regim de maximă urgență.Hai, vă rog, aduceți rapid cât mai multe vreascuri! ”
http://www.contributors.ro/editorial/pe-cand-e-programata-arderea-pe-rug-a-d-lui-vladimir-tismaneanu/
https://adevarul.ro/news/societate/dani-mocanu-fariseii-1_59d210a15ab6550cb8bc546a/index.html
Comportamentul unei clase politice care ataca in mod repetat statul de drept si deciziile unei justitii care elibereaza in cascada infractorii sunt de neinteles nu numai pentru cetateanul de rand , ci sipentru politistul englez specializat in lupta cu infractorii care este trist pentru victimele lor si se teme pentru poporul roman ( probabil unii il vor declara ” extremist” ,nationalist”,etc. ) :
( https://www.g4media.ro/exclusiv-bernie-gravett-politistul-englez-care-a-lucrat-la-cazul-tandarei-dupa-ce-justitia-i-a-achitat-pe-toti-inculpatii-acuzati-de-trafic-de-copii-sunt-trist-pentru-victime-am-trimis-pr.html).
Pe de alta parte , acest scandal are meritul de a readuce in discutie o problema esentiala pentru un stat de drept aflat sub asaltul penalilor ( sa ne amintim de celebra Ordonanta 13 ) si pentru o societate aflata sub asaltul mediocritatilor si impostorilor ( sa ne amintim de cele 30.000 de diplome universitare false , de fabricile de doctorate ,etc. ) respectiv problema esentiala a credibilitatii , reputatiei si legitimitatii morale a elitelor politice , culturale, etc.
Ori credibilitatea , reputatia si legitimitatea morala nu se pot apara cu teancuri de carti ( asta facea si Adrian Paunescu in 1990 ) pentru ca pur simplu inseamna cu totul altceva, iar protagonistii acestui scandal au aflat cu prisosinta.
In plus nici nu stiam ca si d-na Comanescu comisese acesta eroare, se spunea doar de d-l Tismaneanu ceea ce imi confirma faptul ca esti atacat pentru orice greseala daca esti perceput ca fiind prea sus pentru restul, prea o amenintare. Sau poate pentru ca, atunci cand ai ajuns intr-o pozitie inalta, chiar si metaforic vorbind, se presupune ca ar trebui sa fii un model pentru ceilalti.
Evident ca e pacat ca o astfel de greseala s-a comis, mai ales cand e cel care a comis-o s-a confruntat el sau confratii lui de multe ori cu discriminarea. E evident ca nu a fost o decizie prea inspirata dar pentru ca suntem in Postul Pastelui, haideti sa ne reamintim ce spunea Isus atunci cand farizeii i-au adus inainte femeia pacatoasa : “Cel fără de păcat dintre voi să arunce cel dintâi piatra asupra ei” (Ioan 7-8)