A Vital Statement;
A Worthy Read
Senator Jeff Flake of
Arizona’s speech before the US Senate on January 17, 2018.
“Mr. President,
near the beginning of the document that made us free, our Declaration of
Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: 'We hold these truths to be
self-evident...' So, from our very beginnings, our freedom has been predicated
on truth. The founders were visionary in this regard, understanding well that
good faith and shared facts between the governed and the government would be
the very basis of this ongoing idea of America.
“As the
distinguished former member of this body, Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York,
famously said: 'Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own
facts.' During the past year, I am alarmed to say that Senator Moynihan’s
proposition has likely been tested more severely than at any time in our
history.
“It is for that
reason that I rise today, to talk about the truth, and its relationship to
democracy. For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared
facts, Mr. President, our democracy will not last.
“2017 was a year
which saw the truth – objective, empirical, evidence-based truth -- more
battered and abused than any other in the history of our country, at the hands
of the most powerful figure in our government. It was a year which saw the
White House enshrine 'alternative facts' into the American lexicon, as
justification for what used to be known simply as good old-fashioned
falsehoods. It was the year in which an unrelenting daily assault on the
constitutionally-protected free press was launched by that same White House, an
assault that is as unprecedented as it is unwarranted. 'The enemy of the
people,' was what the president of the United States called the free press in
2017.
“Mr. President, it
is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses
words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies. It bears
noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase 'enemy of the people,' that
even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that
the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of 'annihilating such
individuals' who disagreed with the supreme leader.
“This alone should
be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in
the president’s party. For they are shameful, repulsive statements. And, of
course, the president has it precisely backward – despotism is the enemy of the
people. The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the
guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that
doesn’t suit him 'fake news,' it is that person who should be the figure of
suspicion, not the press.
“I dare say that
anyone who has the privilege and awesome responsibility to serve in this
chamber knows that these reflexive slurs of 'fake news' are dubious, at best.
Those of us who travel overseas, especially to war zones and other troubled
areas around the globe, encounter members of U.S. based media who risk their
lives, and sometimes lose their lives, reporting on the truth. To dismiss their
work as fake news is an affront to their commitment and their sacrifice.
“According to the
International Federation of Journalists, 80 journalists were killed in 2017,
and a new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists documents that the
number of journalists imprisoned around the world has reached 262, which is a
new record. This total includes 21 reporters who are being held on 'false news' charges.
“Mr. President, so
powerful is the presidency that the damage done by the sustained attack on the
truth will not be confined to the president’s time in office. Here in America,
we do not pay obeisance to the powerful – in fact, we question the powerful
most ardently – to do so is our birthright and a requirement of our citizenship
-- and so, we know well that no matter how powerful, no president will ever
have dominion over objective reality.
“No politician will
ever get to tell us what the truth is and is not. And anyone who presumes to
try to attack or manipulate the truth to his own purposes should be made to
realize the mistake and be held to account. That is our job here. And that is
just as Madison, Hamilton, and Jay would have it.
“Of course, a major
difference between politicians and the free press is that the press usually
corrects itself when it gets something wrong. Politicians don’t.
No longer can we
compound attacks on truth with our silent acquiescence. No longer can we turn a
blind eye or a deaf ear to these assaults on our institutions. And Mr.
President, an American president who cannot take criticism – who must
constantly deflect and distort and distract – who must find someone else to
blame -- is charting a very dangerous path. And a Congress that fails to act as
a check on the president adds to the danger.
“Now, we are told
via twitter that today the president intends to announce his choice for the 'most corrupt and dishonest' media awards. It beggars belief that an American
president would engage in such a spectacle. But here we are.
“And so, 2018 must
be the year in which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken
it. In this effort, the choice is quite simple. And in this effort, the truth
needs as many allies as possible. Together, my colleagues, we are powerful.
Together, we have it within us to turn back these attacks, right these wrongs,
repair this damage, restore reverence for our institutions, and prevent further
moral vandalism.
“Together, united
in the purpose to do our jobs under the Constitution, without regard to party
or party loyalty, let us resolve to be allies of the truth -- and not partners
in its destruction.
“It is not my
purpose here to inventory all of the official untruths of the past year. But a
brief survey is in order. Some untruths are trivial – such as the bizarre
contention regarding the crowd size at last year’s inaugural.
“But many untruths
are not at all trivial – such as the seminal untruth of the president’s
political career - the oft-repeated conspiracy about the birthplace of
President Obama. Also not trivial are the equally pernicious fantasies about
rigged elections and massive voter fraud, which are as destructive as they are
inaccurate – to the effort to undermine confidence in the federal courts,
federal law enforcement, the intelligence community and the free press, to
perhaps the most vexing untruth of all – the supposed 'hoax' at the heart of
special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“To be very clear,
to call the Russia matter a 'hoax' – as the president has many times – is a
falsehood. We know that the attacks orchestrated by the Russian government
during the election were real and constitute a grave threat to both American
sovereignty and to our national security. It is in the interest of every
American to get to the bottom of this matter, wherever the investigation leads.
“Ignoring or
denying the truth about hostile Russian intentions toward the United States
leaves us vulnerable to further attacks. We are told by our intelligence
agencies that those attacks are ongoing, yet it has recently been reported that
there has not been a single cabinet-level meeting regarding Russian
interference and how to defend America against these attacks. Not one. What
might seem like a casual and routine untruth – so casual and routine that it
has by now become the white noise of Washington - is in fact a serious lapse in
the defense of our country.
“Mr. President, let
us be clear. The impulses underlying the dissemination of such untruths are not
benign. They have the effect of eroding trust in our vital institutions and
conditioning the public to no longer trust them. The destructive effect of this
kind of behavior on our democracy cannot be overstated.
“Mr. President,
every word that a president utters projects American values around the world.
The values of free expression and a reverence for the free press have been our
global hallmark, for it is our ability to freely air the truth that keeps our
government honest and keeps a people free. Between the mighty and the modest,
truth is the great leveler. And so, respect for freedom of the press has always
been one of our most important exports.
“But a recent
report published in our free press should raise an alarm. Reading from the
story:
“’In
February…Syrian President Bashar Assad brushed off an Amnesty International
report that some 13,000 people had been killed at one of his military prisons
by saying, “You can forge anything these days, we are living in a fake news
era.’
“In the
Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has complained of being 'demonized' by 'fake news.' Last month, the report continues, with our President, quote 'laughing by his side' Duterte called reporters 'spies.'
“In July,
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro complained to the Russian propaganda
outlet, that the world media had 'spread lots of false versions, lots of lies' about his country, adding, 'This is what we call 'fake news' today, isn't it?'
There are more:
“A state official
in Myanmar recently said, ‘There is no such thing as Rohingya. It is fake news,’
referring to the persecuted ethnic group.
“Leaders in
Singapore, a country known for restricting free speech, have promised 'fake
news' legislation in the new year.
“And on and on.
This feedback loop is disgraceful, Mr. President. Not only has the past year
seen an American president borrow despotic language to refer to the free press,
but it seems he has in turn inspired dictators and authoritarians with his own
language. This is reprehensible.
“We are not in a 'fake news' era, as Bashar Assad says. We are, rather, in an era in which the
authoritarian impulse is reasserting itself, to challenge free people and free
societies, everywhere.
“In our own
country, from the trivial to the truly dangerous, it is the range and
regularity of the untruths we see that should be cause for profound alarm, and
spur to action. Add to that the by-now predictable habit of calling true things
false, and false things true, and we have a recipe for disaster. As George
Orwell warned, 'The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will
hate those who speak it.'
“Any of us who have
spent time in public life have endured news coverage we felt was jaded or
unfair. But in our positions, to employ even idle threats to use laws or
regulations to stifle criticism is corrosive to our democratic institutions.
Simply put: it is the press’s obligation to uncover the truth about power. It
is the people’s right to criticize their government. And it is our job to take
it.
“What is the goal
of laying siege to the truth? President John F. Kennedy, in a stirring speech
on the 20th anniversary of the Voice of America, was eloquent in answer to that
question:
“’We are not afraid
to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien
philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its
people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is
afraid of its people.’
“Mr. President, the
question of why the truth is now under such assault may well be for historians
to determine. But for those who cherish American constitutional democracy, what
matters is the effect on America and her people and her standing in an
increasingly unstable world -- made all the more unstable by these very
fabrications. What matters is the daily disassembling of our democratic
institutions.
“We are a mature
democracy – it is well past time that we stop excusing or ignoring – or worse,
endorsing -- these attacks on the truth. For if we compromise the truth for the
sake of our politics, we are lost.
“I sincerely thank
my colleagues for their indulgence today. I will close by borrowing the words
of an early adherent to my faith that I find has special resonance at this
moment. His name was John Jacques, and as a young missionary in England he
contemplated the question: 'What is truth?' His search was expressed
in poetry and ultimately in a hymn that I grew up with, titled 'Oh Say, What is
Truth.' It ends as follows:
“’Then say, what is
truth? 'Tis the last and the first,
For the limits of
time it steps o'er.
Tho the heavens
depart and the earth's fountains burst.
Truth, the sum of
existence, will weather the worst,
Eternal… unchanged…
evermore.’
“Thank you, Mr.
President. I yield the floor.”
Please read full
transcript and thoughts from Politico.
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