The Post–A Needed Reminder for Our Times

On to more important things and a reminder that our system of governance has worked in the past, and it will work again. Even with the disturbing events of our times, one could certainly argue that we’ve thankfully not matched the tumultuous times of the 1960’s through to the end of the Vietnam War.  For those of you that were either too young or not completely up to speed, here is the gist of this historical Supreme Court Decision–

 

 

New York Times v. United States [“Pentagon Papers” Case]

THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT

Decided June 30, 1971

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

403 U.S. 713

MR. JUSTICE BLACK, with whom MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS joins, concurring.

“In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell. In my view, far from deserving condemnation for their courageous reporting, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers should be commended for serving the purpose that the Founding Fathers saw so clearly. In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam war, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.”