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"This is yet another sign that the government doesn't understand what journalists do,"

I disagree: This is a sign that government absolutely understands what journalists do. Journalists report stuff that the government doesn't want reported on and then protect their sources. Requiring him to be a member of the MSM would be tantamount to requiring him to work for the 'Ministry of Truth.'

I'm not sure I agree with his reasoning or his politics but at least he has the guts to stand on principle rather than just 'roll over' for the man. How many of us have said that people who disagree with the law should act on their principles regardless of the consequences? Remember all those alusions to guards in Nazi prison camps who just followed orders?

It's different when it's "our" ox that's being gored, isn't it?

"Remember all those alusions to guards in Nazi prison camps who just followed orders?"

I would applaud his actions if he were protecting those who were standing up to Nazi oppression. But that isn't what he is doing is he. He is protecting people who tried to kill a man by fracturing his skull.

In my book, that puts him on the side of oppression and death, not freedom. If you need help determining who the bad guys are, it is generally the ones who are using violence to get their way.

"Journalists report stuff that the government doesn't want reported on and then protect their sources."

Sadly, this guy is doing neither. By editing the film and refusing to show the rest, he is NOT reporting anything but his version of what happened. This makes him a propagandist, NOT a reporter.

He is also NOT protecting his source. The people that attempted to kill that man didn't come to him after the fact and whisper in his ear. He filmed them while they were doing it. That means he is protecting attempted murderers, not a "source". He is an accessory after the fact and as such he is just as guilty as the attempted murderers. He isn't a "journalist" in any sense of the word.

I agree. I admire him for his stance.

We are all so eager to condemn anyone who is anti-establishment and does things like this, but in the future when the Hitliarites take over, and we see wholesale shutting down of dissident media like Free Republic and WE are the ones who will be jailed for refusing to give the government our sources, we'll remember his example.

Not that I'm claiming that we are the media, we just post on message boards, but there are media among us who, I'm sure, will be arrested and required to give emails, names, address and funding sources of good guys who do things like uncover Dan Rather's fraudulent claims.

The day is coming when all of this crap will be used against anyone who uncovers or objects to government policies and actions.

Ed