In 1953, Lt. Milo Radulovich was fired from the Air Force Reserves for being a Communist sympathizer, due to the accused affiliations of his father and sister by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his refusal to renounce them.
Why am I sharing this right now? Because Radulovich and his family were the victims of the witch hunt that was McCarthyism. People were afraid to stand up to people because they were afraid of being seen as subversive, and having House Un-American Activities Committee come after them as well.
We may no longer be afraid of being labelled as “red” or “pinkos”, but where are now? Are we speaking up for BIPOC? Are we discussing the planned federal seizure of Mi’kmaq lobster traps in Nova Scotia? Are we still discussing the fact that Black and Indigenous people are being arrested and killed at a rate that far outweighs their populations in Canada? Are we discussing that the incumbent President is 2 days away from either being re-elected or conducting his own witch hunt to anyone who voted for his opponent? That he intends to refute any election that does not declare him a winner? Are we remembering that our own Prime Minister is making ethical decisions that are at best foolish and at worst dangerous to our country? Are we doing enough? Are we understanding what is happening?
As long as there has been news, there have been people, and journalists, and politicians all making use of the media to propagate, subvert, and inform. The media can be used for good and for evil, and as my very wise sister pointed out to me again today, we must always, always be critical of what we hear and we must always speak out.
We cannot allow a fear of how we will be perceived to stop us from discussing things that are important. We cannot forget that sometimes the media we are seeing or hearing is based on fact.
Even this post – this post is my opinion. This post is editorializing. Does that make it true? Yes. Does that make it false? Also yes.
From the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck. David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow.
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