Has freedom of speech and freedom of the press only hurt our country?
Posted on October 25th, 2009 by admin
the media seems to use that to their advantage, in only depressing and scarying people.
they take issues, and magnify them 10x what they are. they only talk of the bad.
sometimes, it really is better, to not let the country and world, know what is going on. (cause what we dont know, wont cause us to over panic, to the point that we contribute more to the problem).
is freedom of the press and speech, only going to hurt us more?
media. and stupidity of the people, is the downfall of america.
its easy to blame congress. its easy for the reps to blame dems, and the dems to blame reps. but at the end of the day. we the stupid people of america, are actually to blame. that and the media.
if we are so smart, then Congress wouldnt get away with half the stuff they get away with. we wouldnt be electing whoever we elected. so no, the people are not smart.
and yes some of our rights will be our downfall. i dont think our forefathers ever meant, for those rights to be used, to instill fear and illogic into people to the point that they have them contributing to the mess of an economy as is.
those darn rights allow people like limbaugh and coulter to voice an inaccurate opinion, that sadly one too many actually believe to be true.
and regular media, only reports depressing junk that is made out to be worse than it is. and it insitlls panic in all of us. none of us know what to do. none of us have lived through a depression. and only a lucky few get to pass on and die, and not have to live through this horrible mess.
and the media, only wants to talk about the dire economy. they want to fear us to the point that, we are the ones that will ruin the economy.
we are the ones who stop spending….out of fear. no money will circulate. so we are only causing the mess to be bigger, by our irrational fears brought on by the media.
so yes, you are right. many of the rights and amendments, are going to be the downfall for america.
while i like tradition. its impossible to be a thriving fully working developed country using a document made under completely different circumstances.
i believe the consititution should be changed. reformed. updated. made to match modern times.
many of the things the right wing wants to hold onto, are the very things that will demolish this country and forever keep this country in the "devloping stage" (our country does not have the right to call itself developed).
i mean, something is obviously wrong if in less than 100 years, this country goes into a depression….twice.
October 25th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
media. and stupidity of the people, is the downfall of america.
its easy to blame congress. its easy for the reps to blame dems, and the dems to blame reps. but at the end of the day. we the stupid people of america, are actually to blame. that and the media.
if we are so smart, then Congress wouldnt get away with half the stuff they get away with. we wouldnt be electing whoever we elected. so no, the people are not smart.
and yes some of our rights will be our downfall. i dont think our forefathers ever meant, for those rights to be used, to instill fear and illogic into people to the point that they have them contributing to the mess of an economy as is.
those darn rights allow people like limbaugh and coulter to voice an inaccurate opinion, that sadly one too many actually believe to be true.
and regular media, only reports depressing junk that is made out to be worse than it is. and it insitlls panic in all of us. none of us know what to do. none of us have lived through a depression. and only a lucky few get to pass on and die, and not have to live through this horrible mess.
and the media, only wants to talk about the dire economy. they want to fear us to the point that, we are the ones that will ruin the economy.
we are the ones who stop spending….out of fear. no money will circulate. so we are only causing the mess to be bigger, by our irrational fears brought on by the media.
so yes, you are right. many of the rights and amendments, are going to be the downfall for america.
while i like tradition. its impossible to be a thriving fully working developed country using a document made under completely different circumstances.
i believe the consititution should be changed. reformed. updated. made to match modern times.
many of the things the right wing wants to hold onto, are the very things that will demolish this country and forever keep this country in the "devloping stage" (our country does not have the right to call itself developed).
i mean, something is obviously wrong if in less than 100 years, this country goes into a depression….twice.
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October 26th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Not at all. In fact,they are the cornerstone freedoms that have established this as the great country it is. Compare us to nations where these freedoms don’t exist and tell us which you prefer. You need to take the good with the bad. It is better that the media reports as it does rather than simply saying what the government tells it to.
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October 26th, 2009 at 1:12 am
you could never even imagine life without it, quit taking everything for granted and appreciate the freedoms we have…
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October 26th, 2009 at 1:27 am
LOL, "i’m the girl"
Sheer utter fascism.
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October 26th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Then I guess China is your ideal set up.
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October 26th, 2009 at 2:19 am
It is not the freedoms we enjoy. It’s more the ignorance of people who accept everything they read in the media at face value and don’t do any further research.
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October 26th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Yes. Our media should be state run, so all information can be controlled. Criminal acts committed by government employees should be conmvered up for the sake of national security. We should take a page from the former USSR. Make everyone believe everything is all good, until the bottom falls out.
The truth is a dangerous thing….
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October 26th, 2009 at 3:24 am
With my travels in the world, I have found that people envy us, in part because we have those freedoms.
I now live in a country as a transplanted American that does not hold those freedoms nearly as high as we do.
Cherish them.
Peace
Jim
.
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October 26th, 2009 at 4:10 am
While the media do sometimes abuse their power, we should also bear in mind the fact that what we don’t know can hurt us, so we should be glad we have the First Amendment.
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October 26th, 2009 at 4:41 am
Freedom of speech is a good thing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Even the putzes and, schmucks of the world such as Hannity and, Rush.
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October 26th, 2009 at 4:52 am
It does help, but some abuse it and those who do so in an exploitative way should be curtailed. Press wants access above and beyond what they give the average Joe? If they get that it should come with some responsibility to be honest and fair. They shouldn’t whip people up into a frenzy by being dishonest about an issue or event just to get more revenues in by attracting more viewers … that is just sick.
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October 26th, 2009 at 5:24 am
The press is a private except for the left wing PBS . Right now their ratings and revenue are in the toilet except for FOX. People are tired of their bias and have quit watching them.
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October 26th, 2009 at 5:52 am
seeing how the media is now controlled I don’t think you have to worry to much. as far as freedom of speech goes we have less and less each day so don’t worry about that either.
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October 26th, 2009 at 5:58 am
you only have to look at what is going on in russia to see what happens when there is no freedom of speech or the press.
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October 26th, 2009 at 6:24 am
Our 1st Amendment rights are what make this country great.
Our journalists forgetting their moral obligations and being in the tank for either side is what is destroying us.
Currently, instead of safeguarding us against the politicians, they are fawning over the President.
Who watches the watchmen?
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October 26th, 2009 at 6:49 am
thats what obama may say
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October 26th, 2009 at 7:06 am
freedom is what this country is suppose to be and if people don’t like it then they can move out i think they is a huge lack of freedom myself if this country was so free everything wouldn’t cost so much
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October 26th, 2009 at 7:46 am
No it is not bad for the Country. It is only bad when freedom of speech is only used for a goal (such as political) and not used for the truth on both sides of Government. Such bias only destroysroy those carriers based on one-side opions, so that the best and the brights and step in and do real reporting.
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October 26th, 2009 at 8:23 am
No, because in countries that don’t have it, the problems get buried by the government and never get fixed.
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October 26th, 2009 at 8:35 am
No, it hasn’t. But we have to act like grown ups and know what info is truly useful and what is "sensational". Ever heard the saying, "Eat the fish, but spit out the bones." That’s what it means. We have to get into a mindset and stay there. We can’t allow the media to form our opinions or shake them. For example, this nonsense with Blago is just that…nonsense. Sure, what he did was wrong and he was impeached! Why are we still looking at this clown an his antics? It’s time to move on to truly pertinent issues.
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October 26th, 2009 at 8:53 am
the internet hurt our country. you can find anything and everything about everything on there. you couldn’t do that when it was a good old fashioned news paper. maybe every now and then something slipped out. but these days, with things like google maps….being able to see your car parked outside our homes. and they cant find w.m.d’s that countries have SHOWED the government they have……its the internet that screwed things all up…..and al gore, cuz he invented it.
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October 26th, 2009 at 9:00 am
actually there is no such thing as freedom of the press anymore…..it has evolved into freedom to use the press to express their own opinions….I’m glad you see that most media, even the news is simply ..tabloid journalism…..I hate to say it, but in the primaries and in the election…Katie Couric was nothing but a tabloid journalist reporting her own views on her own policies of her chosen subjects.
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October 26th, 2009 at 9:45 am
No.
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October 26th, 2009 at 10:02 am
You can move to China if you want the government to control what you read and see on tv
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October 26th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Insane, it is the persons own fault if they believe everything they hear! We all have brains it is our duty to use them not fall prey to the medias agenda, but freedom of speech never hurt anyone who bothered thinking about what they read, or hear.
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:03 am
When people use speeking to do wrong to others, what do you think! and the media report with out the facts what do you think! get ready to give up your rights next!
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Um no. Don’t listen to anything they tell you at school. They’re lying and trying to confuse you.
If we didn’t have freedom of speech and press blacks would still be slaves and women still wouldn’t be able to vote.
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:48 am
No. The fact that I see so many intelligent people voicing their opinions in this thread, that they choose to decide what to believe in the press and media is proof that they (the media) don’t have complete power over everyone.
The idea that the media is instilling everyone with fear, that everyone is an idiot who cannot decide their own rational beliefs is a fear instilling idea itself (unless that’s what the media wants us to think).
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October 26th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Others have already said what I would about freedoms. What I fail to understand is the numbers who are frightened by commentators like Rush, Hannity, and O’Reilly. I don’t listen to Rush but I do listen to all sides. I have found Bill O’Reilly to be one of the very few you can count on to report accurately and fairly. The same cannot be said of the Dem owned stations like CNN, MNBC, etc. I really don’t understand how there are people who find that reporting to be unbiased. I think elementary school children could see through them.
But unless you read and listen to all sides, how can you form an informed opinion?
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October 26th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
No.
But like everything else, the abuse of speech and the abuse of the press hurts things.
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October 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Are you insane? Do you realize the tyranny we have now as a result of the American People not being told the truth? How did you think all of this happened, because a well informed public made the appropriate decisions based on sound information? Don’t you see that media has been manipulated? The Washington times blathered on about Obama’s chiseled pecs, for Pete’s sake!
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October 26th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
It is not for you, the government or the media to decide what I want to know. It is always best to let the people know what is going on. Like Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr said, let everyone freely express their views and the people will decide for themselves which ideas are good. Even if it hurts us, at least we are able to make the choices that we make. I’d rather be free to make a decision that has risks than face the risks of ignorance.
This is an article about media restrictions in China which you might find interesting. http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515/
And I would say a better word than magnify is focus. They may exaggerate issues, but have they really instilled fear in anyone? I would personally be more afraid if I knew the government had more control over the media than it currently does.
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October 26th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
[ If you defend the right to freedom of speech, get ready for a thumbs down, it seems like this 19 year old blog reader doesn't like the First Amendment]
It is unfortunate that the mainstream media and internet agenda-ridden blogger "media" use the 1st amendment to manipulate people.
But the fact is that freedom is based on the individual, and since this is true, no one else can be held accountable for a particular reaction by an individual for believing or disbelieving in something someone else said.
The media is just made up of people. When a group of people incorporate into a group and call themselves the "press" or whatever, it does not raise their level of legitimacy, we would like for them to be a certain way, but that does not change the fact that the individual is responsible for their own actions. If they respond to the "news" and panic, then that is all on them.
The "crisis" media does not make people, who realize that what is happening now has happened before, and it led to this that and the other, or was caused by such and such actions, don’t "panic". The masses who are susceptible to the "crisis" media simply have existed in every society, and it didn’t matter if "free speech" was there or not. If the government media told them to panic, they did, and in every case, this is when the government increased its’ power.
Society cannot be based on the lowest common denominator, and those easily swayed by the media, politicians, or preachers, can not dictate the laws of that society simply because they are too unstable.
There is no good alternative to the absence of freedom of speech, although it doesn’t seem to do much good since there really is a downward spiral happening as far as individual freedom is concerned. All the info is out there, all the history to refer to, no book is out of reach, yet look at what people are choosing to allow to happen?
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