Information is the only source of immunity
By John N. Berry III, Editor-at-Large, jberry@reedbusiness.com -- Library Journal, 10/1/2009
It began to undermine my faith in democracy. Because I'm a librarian, it triggered an even deeper dread, a chilling fear that our society might careen into a dark period of know-nothing reaction that would lead to worse repression. The organized hostility to discussion and debate over health-care reform, apparently financed by those with the largest stake in the status quo, not only spread lies but also corrupted our political process.
Then came the bitter, dread-filled opposition to allowing the President of the United States to address the nation's schoolchildren. It seemed absurd to one who grew up during World War II, who listened with his family to fireside chats and the Day of Infamy speech. I couldn't believe they would try to muzzle the President!
Alas, that history was not so different. The bitter opponents to FDR and the New Deal were just as strong and noisy then as Obama's opponents are now. It was just as nasty, too, with putrid jokes about Eleanor Roosevelt as rancid as any about Hillary Clinton. A huge dose of conspiratorial paranoia accused the President of trying to bring the United States into the war. The outbreak had all the racism, anti-Semitism, religious prejudice, and xenophobia that are woven into the fabric of American society.
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