Over the last few years, this project has gone deep into controversy and the war over truth. There are certain topics on which the lies we are told seem to pivot. We’re not exactly sure who killed John Kennedy but we’re pretty sure we know who did it. It’s not a surprise that the same group who kills heroes, one after another, is in the driver’s seat today and look around you, is this the rulership you want?
I transcribed this important Kennedy speech because it is entirely prophetic and it shows the underpinnings of our efforts.
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The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society. And we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, secret oaths and secret proceedings. We decided long ago the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it.
Even today there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating it’s arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.
There is very grave danger that in the announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its means to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is within my control. And no official of my administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news. To stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes. Or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.
We are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence. On infiltration instead of invasion. On subversion, instead of elections. On intimidation, instead of free choice. On guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
Its operations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned. No rumor is printed. No secret is revealed.
No president should fear public scrutiny of his programs. For from that scrutiny comes understanding. And from that understanding, comes support or opposition and both are necessary.
I’m not asking your newspapers to support an administration but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence (big applause) in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.
I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers, I welcome it. This administration intends to be candid about its efforts. As a wise man once said: “An error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”
We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors and we expect you to point them out when we miss them. Without debate and without criticism.
No administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmakers decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. That is why is why the press is protected by the FIRST amendment.
The only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution. Not primarily to amuse and entertain. Not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental. Not to simply give the public what it wants but to inform, to arouse, inflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities.
To indicate our crisis and our choices. To lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.
This means greater coverage and analysis of international news. For it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improve the understanding of of the news as well as improve transmission.
It means finally that government at all levels must meet its obligations to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrow limits of national security. So it is to the printing press. The recorder of man’s deeds. The keep of his conscious. The courier of his news that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be - Free and Independent.