The Day Freedom Dies –
Harlingen, Texas, June 21, 2011: It was 38 years ago that a group of journalist acquaintances gathered in my Manila, Philippines hotel room to tell me about the arrest of another friend who had written with disfavor about the Marcos government. They were not even allowed to visit or correspond with him in any way. These writers also showed me how newspapers and television presented events in their country that was living under martial law. Nothing reflecting disfavor of the government could be printed or voiced.
Now we fast forward to this morning’s newspaper in the Lone Star State;
The lead editorial reports on this week’s comments by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He has stated the Obama Administration will no longer allow industry related groups to fund or publish safety-related studies on offshore drilling and pipelines. The rationale behind such action is explained by saying that most of these studies are viewed skeptically because of ties to the oil industry. What LaHood does not say is industry studies are usually overly careful in their examination of such matters because they know the studies will be viewed with a jaundiced eye.
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