The movie is Good Night, and Good Luck. It was a perfectly crafted and executed film. It should receive any number of Academy Awards, if there is any justice, from Best Actor to Best Picture. But enough of that.It is the story, as you may know, of Edward R. Murrow and his television expose of Senator Joseph McCarthy. It is the story of a remarkable American hero, someone who made it his personal job to stand up on behalf of American values. Not the fake American values that the right will always say they are defending (like anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, all those smoke screen issues designed to keep people from realizing that the country is being stolen from them.) The real American values, like the right to a trial, or to be confronted by evidence against you, or the right to have an opinion of your own without fear of retribution. The right not to have your character assassinated for someone else's political gain. The right to live under the protection of the Constitution, a right shared by everyone in this country.
Murrow did this, and not alone; he had the support of his staff, his producer Fred Friendly, and his employer, the CBS TV network. All people who knew the difference between right and wrong and did right, without even really choosing to; they just did what was right. Okay, Paley, the chairman of CBS, made a choice.
I'm not giving anything away here because all this is history. When Murrow made his broadcast, it woke up the country. People realized that they didn't just have to wait for McCarthy to go away, and if they supported Murrow, it was the right thing to do, even if there was retribution. This movie is a history lesson in the best possible sense because it is the very history we must study right now so as not to repeat it. I think if the current administration saw this movie, they would out George Clooney's wife as a CIA agent, if such a thing were possible. They would certainly look for some way to destroy him. (He was the producer of the movie.) Their lesson would be destroy your enemies! Our lesson must be beware of people in power who would seek to destroy their enemies, for we are all their enemies, all of us who would stand up for the Constitution and our individual rights.
We must be so, so vigilant, and not be deceived by the lies they spread. See this movie, or learn everything you can about Murrow and the example he set for us.
Okay, I'm getting off the soapbox now. Thanks for sticking with me this far. If you disagree, please remember that your right to do so was preserved for you by men like Edward R. Murrow. But keep it to yourself, or write it in your own diary. That's what they're here for.
