I am an optimist about America. But how can I maintain that optimism after Vietnam, after the murder of so many who fought for civil rights, after th… - Anthony Lewis

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I am an optimist about America. But how can I maintain that optimism after Vietnam, after the murder of so many who fought for civil rights, after the Red scare and after the abusive tactics planned by government today? I can because we have regretted our mistakes in the past, relearning every time that no ruler can be trusted with arbitrary power. And I believe we will again.… But after all, this has always been a country of unbounded optimism, a country that struggles with itself and conquers corrupting habit.… In the end I believe that faith in reason will prevail. But it will not happen automatically. Freedom under law is hard work. If rulers cannot be trusted with arbitrary power, it is up to citizens to raise their voices at injustice.

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About Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis (March 27, 1927, New York City — March 25, 2013, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a prominent liberal intellectual, writing for The New York Times op-ed page and The New York Review of Books, among other publications. Lewis who is a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, is credited with creating the field of legal journalism in the United States.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Joseph Anthony Lewis
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Without the foundation of law, this vast country could never have survived as one, could never have absorbed streams of immigrants from myriad cultures. With one terrible exception, the Civil War, law and the Constitution have kept America whole and free.

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Pulitzer Prizes are the preeminent mark of achievement in American journalism. As the prizes for reporting on Vietnam in defiance of official wishes show, they also point to the press's view of its role in society. That view has changed substantially over the more than eighty years of the Pulitzer Prizes' existence. Exposing official corruption on a local level had always been part of what journalists see as their function. But today, more than ever before, they are ready to write critically about the policies of the federal government, even in the once sacrosanct areas of foreign and national security affairs.

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