WALTER LIPPMANN

Have you heard of Walter Lippmann?  He was a journalist, media critic and philosopher of the early and middle twentieth century.  Lippman was a captain in the US Army during World War I and served as an intelligence officer in France.  He was put on the negotiating team to settle the war.  

Walter was a founding editor of the magazine The New Republic.  In 1947, Lippmann was the first to describe the "cold war" and he actually coined the term "stereotype".  He wrote syndicated columns for the New York Times and The Washington Post.  He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1958 and another in 1961.  He won a Peabody award for journalism on CBS Reports about his interview with the Soviet Premier.  Of course he was a huge "free speech" advocate.  His work was called to bare in the defense the communist party at a trial in 1983.  The Walter Lippmann House at Harvard University houses the School of Journalism.  

 Anyway, he was an important person of his time.  He was an "old time liberal". He authored over 20 books containing his philosophy about our country, its politics and the world. 

He gave a speech in 1940 to the 30th reunion party of his Harvard class of 1910.  World War II was already raging in Europe but the U.S. had not yet entered.  I will paraphrase some of his remarks that I think are significant.  "For every right that you cherish, you have a duty you must fulfill.  For every hope you entertain, there is a task you must perform.  For every good you want to preserve, there is a comfort you must be willing to sacrifice."  

So True! 

It is easy to live in bondage compared to the difficulty to live in liberty.  Do not take the easy way out.