The American Press circa 1873

I mentioned before that my wife, on a trip to our nation's capital, picked me up a book of Great American Speeches. The more I read these speeches, the more I realize some of the basic aspects of American life have not changed.

To illustrate the point, I'll share with you the first paragraph of Mark Twain's speech on the American Press in 1873:

"The press has scoffed at religion till it has made scoffing popular. It has defended official criminals, on party pretexts, until it has created a United States Senate whose membes are incapable of determining what crime against law and the dignity of their own body is - they are morally blind - and it has made light of dishonesty till we have as a result a Congress which contracts to work for a certain sum and then delibarately steals additonal wages out of the public pocket and is pained and surprised that anybody should worry about a little thing like that.

...There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press... "

It seems that very little has changed over the past 100 years. We still have the press scoffing at religion. We still have a press that will defend a member of Congress, no matter what the charge, because of their party affliation. We still have members of the Senate and House who look to make a quick buck instead of representing the wills of their people... we still have a press that is quick to condemn, but very slow to admit guilt.

So, it makes me wonder what change, if any, will come in the near future. In the end, will all of our collective grumbling amount to any sort of change? Or will someone, in 100 years time, be writing on their journal about the continued injustices of the media and the continued attack on religious beliefs?

It makes me wonder.