One View on Government and The People

For John, BLUF:  This is not a view I subscribe to.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In forwarding an article on Reporter Sara Firth resigning from the London office of the TV News organization Russia Today, one person cited this quote to help us understand Russia today.

"Naturally, the common people don't want war...but, after all it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

- Herman Goering at Nuremberg trial in 1946

The article (not the quote) is from The [Manchester] Guardian and the headline is "Russia Today reporter resigns in protest at MH17 coverage".  Ms Firth resigned over the "Kremlin-backed news channel’s ‘disrespect for facts’ in reports about Malaysia Airlines plane disaster".

The point of submitting this is to help each of us think about our political responsibilities, in voting, and in petitioning our elected leaders.

Regards  —  Cliff