"The Power of Democracy", speech accepting the Public Intellectual Award of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (7 February 2007), as quoted in Moyers on Democracy (2008), p. 92
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Jesus would not be crucified today. The prophets would not be stoned. Socrates would not drink the hemlock. They would instead be banned from the Sunday talk shows and op-ed pages by the sentries of establishment thinking who guard against dissent with the one weapon of mass destruction most cleverly designed to obliterate democracy: the rubber stamp.
— Bill Moyers
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Jesus would not be crucified today. The prophets would not be stoned. Socrates would not drink the hemlock. They would instead be banned from the Sunday talk shows and op-ed pages by the sentries of establishment thinking who guard against dissent with the one weapon of mass destruction most cleverly designed to obliterate democracy: the rubber stamp." in the context of ""The Power of Democracy", speech accepting the Public Intellectual Award of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (7 February 2007), as quoted in Moyers on Democracy (2008), p. 92" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Bill Moyers" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers (June 5, 1934 – June 26, 2025), born Billy Don Moyers, was an American journalist and political commentator. He served as the eleventh White House Press Secretary under the Johnson administration from 1965 to 1967. He was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1967 to 1974. He also worked as a network TV news commentator for ten years. Moyers was extensively involved with public broadcasting, producing documentaries and news journal programs. He won numerous awards and honorary degrees for his investigative journalism and civic activities. He became well known as a trenchant critic of the corporately structured U.S. news media.
About Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers (June 5, 1934 – June 26, 2025), born Billy Don Moyers, was an American journalist and political commentator. He served as the eleventh White House Press Secretary under the Johnson administration from 1965 to 1967. He was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1967 to 1974. He also worked as a network TV news commentator for ten years. Moyers was extensively involved with public broadcasting, producing documentaries and news journal programs. He won numerous awards and honorary degrees for his investigative journalism and civic activities. He became well known as a trenchant critic of the corporately structured U.S. news media.
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