Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all.
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
July 11, 1963
WHO WANTS GOLDWATER?
We have at hand a June 27 newsletter from “Your Congressman William L. Springer.”
Twice on one sheet of paper he repeats the convenient falsehood, NOT PRINTED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE.
You pay the postage, of course, as it is “franked” mail and travels free at the taxpayer's expense. You as a taxpayer pay for the addressing, the folding and the insertion in the franked envelope, as this work is done for Mr. Springer by the “Folding Room” in the House Office Building.
Now how about the printing itself? The House of Representatives hires a printer at an annual salary of something like $8,600. (They list him as a “clerk”) They provide him a room in the basement with free rent, free heat, and free electricity. There he conducts a private-profit printing enterprise. Somehow, his rates come out much cheaper than his competitors on the street! Mr. Springer gets his printing from this subsidized “free enterprise” printer... and labels it, “Not Printed at Government Expense.”
The “franking” or free-mail privilege is intended to cover reports home to the constituency regarding national legislation. The June 27 report from Mr. Springer discusses one thing only; potential candidates for President on the Republican ticket.
The franking privilege is frequently abused, as Mr. Springer has abused it here. Lawsuits to enforce the public interest, however, have pretty slow going against Incumbent Congressmen.
Although as a taxpayer we object to paying the bill for our recent Opponent's political broadsides, we will state that we agree with one of his conclusions. This is that it is time the Republican Party stopped nominating “Me-too” quasi-Liberals. It is time they were true to their essentially reactionary nature and put forward a man who truly represents it.
Mr. Springer, after his usual hedging and qualifying, comes out with what sounds like a “Huzzah for Goldwater!”
It is time indeed the country was offered a clear choice between a Liberal and a Conservative.
Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona may be a hundred years behind in his understanding of the social and economic needs of our times, but at least he says what he thinks.
His supporters claim his strength lies in the non-urban areas where the REA has served so well. Goldwater, who is just real friendly with the big brass in the power companies, recently snorted, “The time has come to dissolve the REA.”
To win an election, Goldwater would have to pull at least some working people's votes; yet he once referred to the UAW-CIO's Walter Reuther as “the most dangerous man in America.”
Minority racial and religious groups can be powerful in a presidential contest, but Barry made headlines last week by declaring the NAACP is “attempting to destroy the constitution.”
Goldwater has become the darling of all the ultra-right-wing nuts who want simple solutions to the vexing problems of our complex world. Impeach Earl Warren, do away with all income taxes, “clamp down” on the unions, stop “subsidizing” agriculture, put the Negroes “in their place,” invade Cuba, bomb Red China, holler “Boo!” at Mr. Krushchev.
Mr. Goldwater is the very spirit of a vast wave of nostalgia for those “good old days” which many imagine but which never really existed. Unable to face a world we cannot dominate, a world whose problems we cannot solve by slamming doors, a world in revolution against white colonial control, these people react in paranoid fashion. They see the devil beneath every bed. Whatever goes wrong results from some Satanic master plan. In their confusion, these “Fright Peddlers,” as Senator Kuchel of California calls them, lump together Jews, Catholics, Negroes, Liberals and Communists. Then they pour out the venom of their hatred over this entire unmatched assemblage. They froth with super-patriotism, and measure love of country in how much they hate everyone else.
The John Birch Society and the Americans for Constitutional Action are only two of a multitude of “fright-peddling” little organizations spawned out of this slime. Their big money comes from oil billionaires such as H.L Hunt of Texas, probably the richest one man on earth. His “Life Lines” publications and programs continue to spread the poison he formerly disseminated under the name of “Facts Forum.” One of Hunt's favorite notions is that the more income tax you pay, the more votes you should have! Naturally, the rich would pick up these extra votes by taking the franchise away from everybody on relief!
The Far Right is on the march, and the present struggle in California proves that they intend to wrest control of the Republican Party out of the hands of the responsible and decent people who have been active in it.
This kind of re-alignment would give Americans a clear and meaningful choice, but it would also give us political warfare of unparalleled viciousness.
Mr. Kennedy is, despite some justified criticisms, winning the approval of the American people. He will be re-elected in 1964.
This is one more reason we are grateful to Mr. Springer and all the wild-eyed Fellow Travelers of the Far Right for pushing Barry Goldwater. As Harry Truman said in 1959 about Dick Nixon; “I hope he gets the nomination; we'll clobber him!”