United States is in a McCarthy-like era in which the government stifles political dissent while the news media and the public fail to speak out in op

March 21, 2005 Headlines | Montana governor wants Guard back from Iraq: "Newsman says dissent stifled

DANVILLE, KY — Former National Public Radio newsman Bob Edwards says the United States is in a McCarthy-like era in which the government stifles political dissent while the news media and the public fail to speak out in opposition.

Speaking at Centre College, Edwards, now host on XM Satellite Radio, said the “Bush administration holds reporters in contempt” and has become the “all-time champion of information control,” the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Edwards built a theme based on a quote by Bush’s former press secretary Ari Fleischer in the wake of 9/11: “People should watch what they say.”

Edwards also said journalists “have done a terrible job explaining their role to the public,” the newspaper reported.

He quoted Edward R. Murrow’s famous TV response to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty,” and “we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”"