Who is the enemy? – Emporia Gazette

I am part Text ColorSwatch/NoneStrokeStyle/$ID/SolidText ColorSwatch/NoneStrokeStyle/$ID/Solid$ID/NothingText ColorText Color$ID/NothingText ColorText Colorof Text ColorSwatch/NoneStrokeStyle/$ID/SolidText ColorSwatch/NoneStrokeStyle/$ID/Solid$ID/NothingText ColorText Color$ID/NothingText ColorText Colora profession recently designated an Enemy of the People.

Its a chilling phrase, used by despots throughout history to justify the limitation of free speech, the imprisonment and even murder of those who speak anyway.

Id like to share this quote from David Remnick of The New Yorker (Feb. 18):

Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, makes the point that autocrats from Chvez to Erdogan, Sisi to Mugabe, all follow a general pattern. They attack and threaten the press with deliberate and ominous intensity; the press, in turn, adopts a more oppositional tone and role. And then that paves the way for the autocrats next move, Simon told me. Popular support for the media dwindles and the leader starts instituting restrictions. Its an old strategy.

However McCarthyism aside it is new to the land of the free, the home of the brave.

Does America have enemies? Sure. Within and without. But you cannot paint the entire media profession with one brush.

Its not all fake news. Its not fake news just because you dont like it. Think it through. Would you trust Breitbart over PBS? Occupy Democrats over the Associated Press?

With a nod to Mike Wilson, editor of the Dallas Morning News, who first wrote on this ...

An enemy of the people wrote a three-part feature on beloved restaurant Olpe Chicken House. An enemy of the people revealed a serious case of theft at a beloved, taxpayer-supported institution.

An enemy of the people spent a day with a law enforcement officer to give the community a better idea of what our protectors face.

An enemy of the people wrote about the need for food, clothes and a place to take a shower for students at Emporia High School.

An enemy of the people questioned the fiscal need for yet another community survey. An enemy of the people talked to hometown hero Clint Bowyer so you could keep up with his career.

Enemies of the people routinely contribute articles to The Gazette on fiscal health, physical health, spiritual health.

Am I your enemy? I hope not. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is vital to our nation.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

The Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984. 1937 1945 interred at Sachsenhausen and Dachau

Regina Murphy

Features Editor

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Who is the enemy? - Emporia Gazette