“We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital. If”
John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States
As quoted in "McCain says suppressing free press is 'how dictators get started'" http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mccain-idUSKBN15Y07R?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social (19 February 2017), Reuters <br class="br">2010s, 2017 <br class="br">Context: I hate the press; I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital. If you want to preserve - I'm very serious now - if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started. They get started by suppressing free press. In other words, a consolidation of power. When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press... [W]e need to learn the lessons of history.
