America needs Edward R. Murrow

On the 19th of October, a small minority of the American people may have seen something which has been absent from the newscasts for far too long. A man speaking with true passion to the masses.

In the '50s, a relatively minor newscaster stood up to announce that the country he loved dearly was destroying itself from within. He stood to speak with passion about the systematic persecution of people who had, at the time, committed no illegal action. He stood to speak in defense of those who were permitted none. He stood to speak on behalf of those who had no voice.

America needs that passion again. It needs people who are willing to say that something's wrong with the country. It needs people who can speak passionately about the country that they love, and what they love about it.

It needs dreamers. It needs idealists. It needs people who see the world through rose-colored glasses. It needs people who aren't willing to compromise on things like compassion, liberty and equality.

Recently, the US government passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. In particular, the writ of Habeas Corpus is denied to non-US citizens.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term Habeas Corpus is the right of every person to stand in court and get an answer to one very simple question: "Hey, why am I in prison?" While technically this is only denied to non-US citizens, there's a rather disturbing loophole: if the American Government decides you are not a US citizen, with Habeas Corpus no longer applying; you have no way to challenge the claim.

In short, democracy is dead in America. As Olbermann puts it in his special commentary, the president has been given a blank check. He has the power to arbitrarily place someone in jail, hold them without trial, and convict them with evidence they are not allowed to see.

Edward R. Murrow once said: "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." While I doubt he knew at the time how prophetic his words would be, we need to remember his words now; for they are as true now as they were during the red scare.

America needs that passion again. It needs people who still believe in the idealism of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It needs dreamers who dare to believe in the great society that America once was; and who believe that it can be so again. We need idealists, not pragmatists. We need people who see what principles the country was founded upon, and seek them again.

We need Edward R. Murrow; but until then, Keith Olbermann will do.

I have included an embedded video of Olbermann's speech, if you have about ten minutes to watch it; it is truly worth seeing.