“One musn’t overrate the culture of what used to be called ‘top people’ before the wars. They had charming manners, but they were as ignorant as swans.” – Kenneth Clark, Civilisation 

Having a degree and having an education are not the same. Margaret Brennan demonstrated this on her February 16, 2025, Face The Nation broadcast. 

Brennan questioned her guest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, about Vice President Vance’s comments days earlier at the 61st Munich Security Conference.

There Vance expressed concerns that the greatest threats to European democracy were not Russia and China, but suppression of free speech. He presented a litany of events supporting his concerns.  His distressing recitation included German raids “against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of ‘combating misogyny on the internet, a day of action.’” 

Brennan stated “he [Vance] lectured about what he described as censorship.” She then closed with the question, “What did all of this accomplish, other than irritating our allies?”

To Rubio’s robust response valuing free speech, Brennan responded “Well, he was standing in a country [Germany] where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide,”

The transcript does not capture the condescending, authoritative snark of Brennan’s “putdown” of Rubio. Not exactly a demonstration of “charming manners.”

Margaret Brennan is a “distinguished” graduate of the University of Virginia with major in foreign affairs and Middle Eastern Studies with a minor in Arabic. Is it possible to receive a BA in Foreign Affairs from UVA and know nothing about the hideous evil of fascism in 20th century Europe that killed tens of millions? Could one receive a degree in Foreign Affairs and never have heard of the Nazi book burnings in the ‘30s to suppress dissenting thoughts? 

Intrinsic to the explosion of fascism in Europe was the suppression of opposition by violence, arrests and censorship. All the autocratic regimes through time and geography, Argentina in the ‘70s to present day North Korea embrace suppression of speech and violence against those who dissent. Sadly, fascism is a non-directional abuser, embraced by both right and left. 

Could the credentialed Brennan have confused propaganda with free speech? Both involve the use of language.  But there is a difference, and it is of substance not nuance.

The Orwellian newspeak where propaganda becomes free speech has been widely and wickedly adopted by media anointed thought-leaders.

Ms. Brennan meet Ms. Maher.

Katherine Maher’s TED talk What Wikipedia Teaches Us About Balancing Truth and Beliefs taught us about Ms. Maher too.

Ms. Maher lectured “Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done (like getting the trains to run on time?) …”.  She added “We acknowledge there are many different truths ….in the spirit of that, the truth exists for you and probably for the person sitting next to you. But this may not be the same truth …”. 

For most of us truth and facts are different from beliefs and values. I think our values and beliefs are affected by our experiences. An event, the truth, stands alone from the observer, verifiable and reproduceable. For the physicist reading this, truth is diminishingly small. Perhaps only the conservation of momentum  and the speed of light being independent of the observer merit  the label of truth.  

For the rest of us, the interpretation of the event by an observer is malleable. Yet It is only through the corruption of language can we equate truth with belief. An event, the truth, stands alone from the observer, verifiable and reproducible. For the physicist reading this, truth is diminishingly small. Perhaps only the conservation of momentum and the speed of light being independent of the observer merit the label of truth.

For the rest of us, the interpretation of the event by an observer is malleable. Yet it is only through the corruption of language can we equate truth with belief.

Ms. Maher, who gave us this Through the Looking Glass moment, is the CEO of NPR. She has a bachelor’s degree from New York University in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. Her degreed experience seems to allow her to believe “as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” 

Both Brennan and Maher have acquired degrees absent a substantial knowledge of 20th century history. I suspect they are familiar with Arabic literature but seem ignorant as swans about the prescient writings of Orwell on politics, language, fascism and antisemitism. A degree does not guarantee education. Embracing degrees freed from reality, while entertaining, is not sustainable for society.

Ms. Brennan talks about free speech in Munich and genocide. Perhaps Brennan could include Sophie Scholl in future comments.  

Sophie was a founding member of the White Rose, a non-violent student group in the ‘30s at the University of Munich. The White Rose denounced the Nazi dictatorship and mass murder of Jews. For her participation in the White Rose, Sophie, her brother Hans and fellow University of Munich student Christopher Probst were arrested on February 18, 1943. They were executed on February 22, 1943.

Perhaps we should send a white rose to Margaret Brennan on February 22nd.

Frank Speidel, MD, is a retired emergency physician, US Navy Flight Surgeon and former hospital CEO. He was EMS Medical Director for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Chester County. He is currently producer and host for The Doctor Is In on MLTV21.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to included a paragraph inadvertently omitted while editing.