freeSpeech: Bob Schieffer

CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent Speaks Out About National Security

(CBS)  I have no sympathy for those suspected 9/11 ringleaders. If the evidence proves them guilty, I hope they get the death penalty.

But I'm glad they took them out of those secret CIA prisons. For me, it's a matter of national security - ours. Democracies have no business running secret prisons. That's what our enemies do. If we are in a battle for the hearts and minds of people around the world, as the administration says we are, I won't feel very secure if the people around the world believe we are no different than our enemies.

Of course we must do all in our power to protect this country. During the Cold War we built a mighty arsenal of weapons, and it kept the Soviet Union at bay for decades.

But the weapons didn't win the war. We won when the people under Soviet domination could finally look across the Iron Curtain and see that open, democratic government made for a better life. Their governments were buying missiles when all they wanted were better schools and washing machines.

They saw that open government based on law gave them a better chance to have those things than government conducted in secret and based on the whims of unelected leaders ... and so the Iron Curtain fell.

As Americans, we do believe our system offers a better way. But the only way to convince others of that is if we live by our values.

Real security begins with remembering who we are. We gain nothing by adopting the methods of our enemies.

Bob Schieffer is broadcast journalism's most experienced Washington reporter. He is CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent and also serves as anchor and moderator of Face The Nation, CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast.

Schieffer served as interim anchor of The CBS Evening News from March 10, 2005 until Aug. 31, 2006. He will be a regular contributor to The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

[CBSTV]

Well said, Mr. Schieffer, except for your advocacy of capital punishment. This only propagates a culture of violence and death in our society.

[arcangel1]

I do not believe that we should focus on trying to win a popularity contest when it comes to war.

We should never underestimate our enemy and we should not respect them for their beliefs, after all they have murdered thousands of Americans for their beliefs, without provocation.

I think if we were little gods with individual protective shields then we could afford the luxury of giving grace to the enemy.

My heart weeps when I see our soldiers imprisoned by the country they are protecting and our enemies given the comforts of life and respect.

The CIA DOES NOT drag innocent people out of their homes in the middle of the night and kill
them in front of a camera while their family is watching. Our enemy does.

The Praetorian was feared and their presence kept the peace. When the pratoroian moved into politics the world changed for the worse.

This opinion was not meant to offend or libel in any way.

Glen

[kgruben3]

Mr. Schieffer,
I loved your freeSpeech piece. Seemed a proper response to the idiocy of Rush Limbaugh and the Bush Administration. Please keep up the level headed commentary to counterbalance the yammer that comes from the other side of the aisle.
Karl Gruben

[dragonpoet-2009]

Thank you immensely for the speech. I shudder to read that the Administration is claiming the cloak of National Security to hide evidence from the American People and from the accused at trial. I am reminded of what the Emperor Trajan said to Pliny the Younger (then Governor of Judea), regarding the use of anonymous evidence in Roman court proceedings:

'But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.' (The Emperor Trajan to Pliny the Younger, Letters, ca. 112 CE)

It is alarming that The Administration advocates supporting a method of hiding evidence which is not only outlawed by our own Constitution, but which was avoided by a Roman Emperor two millemnia ago.

Keep Speaking!

[bobpage1]

Hi Bob,

I couldn't agree more with you. The saying, "the only way for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing," speaks volumes about our need to stand against evil. But if we commit evil while combatting evil, we are indeed part of the problem instead of part of the solution. In their zeal to fight terrorism, the Bush Administration has used many questionable interrogation methods and the secret prisons. These heinous practices trample all over the US Constitution that we all seek to defend and preserve. Now that Congress is formally considering legislation for the military tribunals, interrogation techniques, and the like, these questionable practices endorsed by the Cheney-Rumsfeld crowd can be exposed to the light of God's truth.

Thanks for your service to our great country and your honest perspective on what's really going on in Washington, D.C.

God Bless,

Bob Page
Concord, N.C.

[riddlereader]

Best speech I've heard in, oh, about 43 years and 16 days, Bob. Seriously. I always suspected there was more to you than a pretty face. Seriously. Run for something, I'll vote for you. Seriously.

[jekika-2009]

Congratulations to CBS and Bob Schieffer for having the courage to speak openly and honestly about the threat deceit and secrecy pose to our country. Government agencies and officials have a duty to abide by our Country's laws and be honest with the American people. I look forward to more news segments like this.

[liberalmedia]

Great comments by Bob Schieffer today. The best way to win the "war on terror" is not to be more terrible than the terrorists. We have to show that we are as morally superior as we claim. No more Gitmos, Abu Gharibs, or secret prisons to make the US look bad.

I agree with everything Bob said. Too bad we don't have people with some common sense like that running our government, instead of talking heads pandering to the political extremists of this nation.

[glenallenw]

Amen!
You have managed to articulate what every progressive thinking American patriot has been attempting to convey for the last five years.

Glen A Whitehead