<p>
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”</p>
<p>“Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger.”
-Theodore Roosevelt</p>
<p>I treasure America’s freedom of the press. Journalism is not an easy job. I respect those who defend the common person (such as the soldiers who did their duty and came home wounded, hoping for a decent disability discharge, fearing retribution) against tyranny, bureaucracy, etc. On a joking note, I hope our administration (perhaps Rove and Cheney) will never become envious of Putin: </p>
<p>
It has become a very dangerous business to question, criticize or investigate Putin’s regime. In the past decade, 88 journalists were killed in Russia. Over the same 10-year-period (including the American invasion and occupation), 136 journalists have been killed in Iraq."
</p>
<p>Another Putin Critic Shot … In Suburban Marylandhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030201679.html[/url] ”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030201679.html</a></p> ;