It might sound strange, but perhaps my first and best encounter with the true meaning of freedom comes from a film perhaps as old as me about the Berlin Airlift. A woman in Berlin asked an American airman about an article in a newspaper criticizing the US. The airman replied with a question: Would you find such an article in a Soviet paper? The answer is obviously no. The Soviets, the Chinese, and similar regimes would shoot people for putting their government in a bad light.
I was again reminded of the scene in the movie during this sudden onslaught of political correctness lately, especially under the former president. To me, it matters not who silences someone such as a reporter from any organization, or even a private citizen. A threat to silence the press is a serious threat to freedom. If I cannot write as I am now, I have no freedom, nor does anyone else.
And I might note that some of the most horrible communist leaders know the the meaning of freedom. Joseph Stalin said that those who count the ballots determine the outcome of an election while so many value their freedom so little that they cannot be bothered to vote, let alone do the research to see through simple deceit by those who want to take our freedom us.
bfrhodes99 