Godwin’s Law does not apply

Keith Olbermann Delivers One Hell Of a Commentary on Rumsfeld
Excerpt:

This country faces a new type of fascism – indeed. – Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute… I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow. But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed, “confused” or “immoral.” Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full:

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty,” he said, in 1954. “We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear – one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were – for the moment – unpopular.”

And so, good night, and good luck.

Click through for full transcript and video link.

Read my thoughts (almost a year ago) here: Dissent: Unpatriotic or necessary?

ETA: Here’s what this is about:
Rumsfeld Compares Iraq War Critics To Hitler Appeasers

Rumsfeld compared critics of his policies to people “in the decades before World War II” who believed Hitler “could be appeased” and “argued that the fascist threat was exaggerated — or that it was someone else’s problem.” People critical of his current efforts, according to Rumsfeld, “have still not learned history’s lessons.”

Rumsfeld added, “any moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere.”

Tags: dissent, politics