The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far out weigh the dangers which are sited to justify them. Even today there is little value in opposing the threat of an enclosed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation, if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be ceased upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control and no official of my administration, weather his rank is high or low, civilian or military should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle decent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press or the public the facts that they deserve to know. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that rely’s primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence. On infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on gorillas by night instead of army’s by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed not published, its mistakes are buried not headlined, its dissenters are silenced not praised, no expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. No president should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding and from that understanding comes support or opposition and both are necessary. I’m not asking your newspapers to support an administration but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people for I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed. I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers I welcome it. This administration intends to be candid about its errors, for as a wise man once said “an error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it”. We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors and we expect you to point them out when we miss them. Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian law maker Solan decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy and that is why our press was protected by the first amendment. The only business in America specifically protected by the constitution not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and sentimental, not to simply give the public what it wants but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises’ and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion. This means greater coverage and analysis of international news for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission and it means finally that government at all levels must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security. So it is to the printing press, to the recorder of mans deeds, to the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news that we look for strength and assistance confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.
J.F.Kennedy
From what I have read and that people have told me, JFK was a great man and the best president of the United States in the past 120 years. JFK defied the central bank executive order 11110 which if still in use would have reduced Americas national debt (see link to find out how), it could be speculated that he was killed due to his defiance. He was a great president, a man who fought for the people and America need another president like him.
Although blandrys from digg.com has a point with his response to someone saying that JFK’s speech states that everything happening now is un-American:
RE: “That’s right, old JFK says everything that’s happening now is basically…well… unamerican”.
Hmmm… let’s see… a continent full of gun crazed, racist, brainwashed religious
freaks denying evolution, torturing POWs, wiretapping it’s own citizens, killing
and raping across all continents in the name of “freedom”, worshipping money
and capitalism, locking up millions of it’s own citizens for smoking a little herb,
refusing to sign treaties to slow down global warming, keeps building nukes while
forbidding others to do so…
Nope, sorry. Everything that4 Responses to “On Secret Societies and Freedom of the Press”
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What you have there is only an excerpt of the actual speech located at:
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03NewspaperPublishers04271961.htm
This the the JFK Presidential Libary and Museum that also has the MP3 version of the speech. Once again, your post is sorely incomplete. Here is the MP3 link at the same site.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset+Viewers/Audio+Video+Asset+Viewer.htm?guid={51BCDE90-AF4F-4EE9-A68E-ECC4CDE97F76}&type=Audio
Once you hear the speech in it’s entirety and read it in it’s entirety do you realize that JFK was openly speaking of international communism, but also in a very subtle, almost imperceptible way, he was taking the opportunity to link certain secret societies willingness to take advantage of the threat here at home posed by international communism. JFK, in my humble opinion, was openly dissenting with the establishment as to certain ideological inclinations embraced within certain factions of these societies wishing to act over his personal authority and against his ideological preferences, but not to the extent that he dissented against the overall agenda: The global ideology of promoting the being of a “citizen of the world”. Read and listen to the FULL text. (Side note: The irony is that all the “ism’s” are linked to one or more secret societies, but they compete, and disagree as to method and implmentation, but they are consistent in that they will wash this dirty laundry behind closed doors, and never take it into the street where the common man will see it.)
Thanks, I had been searching for that clip for a while. The whole speech is very complex and I am sure one could write an entire book on it, if it hasn’t already been done. I shall listen to the mp3 in the morning. Again thanks for the links
[...] transcript bellow courtesy of PhotoGabble (a [...]
Yes, JFK was talking about communists but the subject of the speech was not communism. He was adressing newspapers and journalists. He first emphasized that no threat should be taken as an excuse for censorship on the press. And announced that he will not forcefully censor any newspaper.
He said: “Even today[in the time of cold-war], there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation [by means of limiting freedom of people] if our traditions[freedom of speech, critisim; being an open society] do not survive with it.”
He talked about the dilemma between protecting the national security & protecting the freedom of speech.
After that he “kindly” requested journalists to be careful and think twice about “what to make news”. He did not want them to “not-object-him”. He just wanted them to be careful when releasing detailed news about covert operations of the US, that caused no need for their enemies to hire agents to be informed.
It seems to me that USA was a great country in his time. Look at her now… Ask Bush about the “Athenian lawmaker Solon” or “Francis Bacon” that Kennedy was talking about. I’m sure he will stare at you blankly.
In order to understand clearly what he means, I advise you watch the movie “Zeitgeist” in which an excerpt from this speech is taken too.
It can be downloaded freely from http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com by torrent