Echo opinion letter from Abilene Texas - Freedom of Speech

This echo opinion letter was published in the Abilene Reporter News, with quotes from patriotic leaders.  An interesting letter written from a reader in a Republican leaning Texas community.

ABILENE, Texas: The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution affirming “the press is not the enemy of the people” and condemning “attacks on the institution of the free press” (Aug. 16) - a direct refutation of the pernicious president's contemptible claim the press is “the enemy of the people.”

The U.S. president's sworn oath includes “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” The Constitution prohibits lawfully “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

“Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech.” (Benjamin Franklin, 1722).

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” (Thomas Jefferson, 1786).

“The freedom of the Press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.” (James Madison, 1789).

“In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.” (US Supreme Court, New York Times v. United States, 403 US 713, 1971).

“Freedom of the Press is one of our most important freedoms and also one of our oldest.” (Ronald Reagan, 1985).

“If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free - and many times adversarial - press. 

And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time.” (John McCain, 2017 – who the draft dodger president disrespectfully denied was an American military hero).

— John Compere, Baird