Tom Robbins Quotes
You risked your life, but what else have you ever risked? Have you risked disapproval? Have you ever risked economic security? Have you ever risked a belief? I see nothing particularly courageous about risking one's life. So you lose it, you go to your hero's heaven and everything is milk and honey 'til the end of time. Right? You get your reward and suffer no earthly consequences. That's not courage. Real courage is risking something that might force you to rethink your thoughts and suffer change and stretch consciousness. Real courage is risking one's clichés.
Robbins, Tom. Still Life with Woodpecker. Bantam Books, 1980, p. 237.
There has been a constant conflict between the government and the press regarding the right of a journalist to refuse to disclose his/her sources for a story or to reveal his/her notes or outtakes. Reporters would sometimes be subpoenaed and if they refused to testify or disclose the subpoenaed information, they could be held in contempt of court and fined, jailed or both. However, one of the major reasons reporters have been able to get information on the malfeasance and incompetence of government is that leakers and whistleblowers have been willing to provide information to the press is that they are confident that the press will not disclose the source. The courts have ruled that journalists have no special rights regarding subpoenas, so the outcome of the conflict depends on the political decision of the administration. Risen had been subpoenaed during the George W. Bush Administration and he and the New York Times had fought the case all the way up to the Supreme Court which ruled, that Risen had no special right wo withhold information about a possible crime. That seemed to leave Risen with his “two choices”.
Thomas Eugene Robbins is an American novelist. His best-selling novels are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy-drama"). His novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was made into a movie in 1993 by Gus Van Sant and stars Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, and Keanu Reeves.
