(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
By Cindy McCain, Opinion contributor | The Republic
More than a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt, before an audience at The Sorbonne, made some of his most famous remarks, saying, “It is not the critic who counts … The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”
Looking back at Roosevelt’s time, the nation was beginning to see an evolution in the public discourse as an independent press was just beginning to take root in the United States. It was replacing the ideological party press system that informed, yet divided, so many Americans.
My family has had a front-row seat to the collapse of political discourse, as my late husband was vilified by political opponents and critics on both sides of the aisle.
Nonetheless, he stood up and spoke out for what he believed.
