The First Amendment under 'progressive' siege

The genius of the Founding Fathers was their ability to write the Constitution in the plain English that everybody could understand. Lawyers, who can employ entire boring paragraphs to say "good morning" (many young women have dozed off while their lawyer swains were on their knees with a proposal of marriage) would inflict damage later.

A good lawyer, or even a bad one, can put loopholes in any proposal. To wit, Elena Kagans explanation of the First Amendment. It's perfectly OK, she wrote in the University of Chicago Law Review, for the government to restrict free speech as long as it means well and calls it something else. The word "restrictions" sounds bad, like a leather restraint, but Mzz Kagan's "redistribution of speech" can sound benign, like free cheese. Who doesn't like cheese? She argued that the government can employ Orwellian restrictions on speech if it thinks such speech might "harm" others, either by direct action or inciting someone else to take direct action. Who gets to decide when such restrictions are imposed for the greater good? Why, the government, of course.

Here's how the Founding Fathers, ever suspicious of ambitious Lilliputians, wrote the guarantee of free speech: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Note that the First Amendment does not say that Congress "should" make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or that it would be nice if it didn't. The operative words are "shall make no law."

Air America shutting down

Air America shutting down

Starting at 6 p.m. ET Thursday, Air America will broadcast "encore programming" though Jan. 25 and then cease to air. Current employees will be paid through Thursday, and severance packages will be offered Friday to full-time employees with more than six months of tenure.

Formerly known as Air America Radio, the network launched in 2004 with personalities including Rachel Maddow and Al Franken, now a Democratic U.S. senator from Minnesota.

In October 2006, Air America Radio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but was able to stay on the air while it reorganized. Green Family Media bought the network in March 2007, and it eventually grew to 100 radio outlets nationwide.

The network called itself "the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world" at the time of its launch, according to its statement Thursday. Air America presented dissenting views on issues like the Iraq War at a time when such statements "were often denounced as 'un-American,' " the statement continued.

But the changing media industry crippled the network's growth.

"With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad," the statement said.

White House fails to ban FoxNews from Press Pool

The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

The Obama administration on Thursday failed in its attempt to manipulate other news networks into isolating and excluding Fox News, as Republicans on Capitol Hill stepped up their criticism of the hardball tactics employed by the White House.

The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. The pool is the five-network rotation that for decades has shared the costs and duties of daily coverage of the presidency.

But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks consulted and decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

The administration relented, making Feinberg available for all five pool members and Bloomberg TV.

The pushback came after White House senior adviser David Axelrod told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday that Fox News is not a real news organization and other news networks "ought not to treat them that way."

Media analysts cheered the decision to boycott the Feinberg interview unless Fox News was included, saying the administration's gambit was taking its feud with Fox News too far. President Obama has already declined to go on "Fox News Sunday," even while appearing on the other Sunday shows.

"I'm really cheered by the other members saying "No, if Fox can't be part of it, we won't be part of it,'" said Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik, calling the move to limit Feinberg's availability "outrageous."

Hey Barack! You won, we get it, stop campaigning

Hey Barack! You won, we get it, stop campaigning

... something more sinister is afoot in Mr. Obama's carefully plotted campaign to destroy his perceived enemies in the press, television and even business. Rush Limbaugh is only the face of the opposition, and the ultimate target of the White House scheme is to marginalize and destroy the Republican Party first, and then everyone else unwilling to get in the lockstep parade toward the hazy dream of Utopia.

Mr. Obama and his White House can't seem to get their brains around the fact that the election of '08 is over, and he won. A candidate feeds on red meat, but a president is the president of everyone, and must set a different table. Mr. Obama campaigned with promises of a post-racial, post-partisan, post-rancor administration, and millions of Americans responded with enthusiasm. The candidate who said he took inspiration from Abraham Lincoln of Illinois now acts as if he takes inspiration from the distinguished statesmen of the Third World, where press opposition to the leader is usually a bloody no-no.

The remarkable White House attempt to define which news organization is legitimate and which is not began in August, as Mr. Obama's poll numbers began a dramatic slide. Suddenly the man who yearns to be the permanent president of the Student Body, loved by all and adored by the co-eds and their mamas, is rendered human after all. Anita Dunn, the director of White House communications, says that when the administration began planning for autumn (with important gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia), the president "needed to be more aggressive in defining what the choices are, and in protecting and pushing forward our agenda."

Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and Fox News are big enough to take care of themselves, but the implications of what the Obamanauts are trying to do are scary, indeed. Brisk and even brutal opposition is something every president must endure; it's a pity that Mr. Obama skipped school the day the class studied American history. The candidate insists that the critics who scoff that he isn't really the messiah, but another Chicago politician, are just being cynical. This week Ms. Dunn insisted that the Obama image is intact. "He's who he has always been." So we are learning, to widespread sorrow.

White House Communications Director: "We controlled the press"

The Obama campaign's press strategy leading up to his election last November focused on "making" the media cover what the campaign wanted and on exercising absolute "control" over coverage, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn told an overseas crowd early this year.

She said Campaign Manager David Plouffe put out Web videos so the campaign could avoid talking to reporters and focus the media message.

"Whether it was a David Plouffe video or an Obama speech, a huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to why the campaign was saying it," she said. "One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters. ... We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it."

• White House Escalates War on Fox News
• Obama Team Continues Effort to Isolate Fox News
• Why is the White House Still Attacking Fox News?

Freedom of the press means freedom of the opposition

White House Steps Up Fox News Attacks

The White House escalated its offensive against Fox News on Sunday by urging other news organizations to stop "following Fox" and instead join the administration's attempt to marginalize the channel.

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization."

"Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."

Even Donna 'uber-lib' Brazile and David 'I heart Obama' Gergen agree with FoxNews:

Observers on both sides of the political aisle questioned the White House's decision to continue waging war on a news organization, saying the move carried significant political risks.

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said on CNN: "I don't always agree with the White House. And on this one here I would disagree."

David Gergen, who has worked for Democratic and Republican presidents, said: "I totally agree with Donna Brazile." Gergen added that White House officials have "gotten themselves into a fight they don't necessarily want to be in. I don't think it's in their best interest."

"The faster they can get this behind them, the more they can treat Fox like one other organization, the easier they can get back to governing, and then put some people out on Fox," Gergen said on CNN. "I mean, for goodness sakes -- you know, you engage in the debate.

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Why is the Obama Administration pretending like news and journalism hasn't always been opinionated? Why are the pretending like newspapers haven't had 'real' news and opinions for centuries, like Fox News is something alien.

The foundation of our country was built upon the freedom for the opposition to voice their opinion. Since when did the White House chastise news outlets for their opinions?

By escalating their attacks on Fox News they have embolden their critics. But is that always the case? The Clinton Administration made Rush Limbaugh into an icon. The Obama Administration is has propelled Glenn Beck into national prominence. The funny part is that the Obama Administration is feeding the beast they are trying to take down.

Only by engaging the opposition can you ever hope to defeat them... that sounds like something Obama has said.

White House Escalates War of Words With Fox News

White House Escalates War of Words With Fox News

Anita Dunn, White House communications director, calls Fox News a "wing of the Republican Party," after the White House began using its government blog to criticize "Fox lies."

Calling Fox News "a wing of the Republican Party," the Obama administration on Sunday escalated its war of words against the channel, even as observers questioned the wisdom of a White House war on a news organization.

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," said Anita Dunn, White House communications director, on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente, who likens the channel to a newspaper with separate sections on straight news and commentary, suggested White House officials were intentionally conflating opinion show hosts like Glenn Beck with news reporters like Major Garrett.

"It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming," Clemente said. "It seems self-serving on their part."

...

"It's a very risky strategy. It's not one that I would advocate," Gergen said on CNN. "If you're going to get very personal against the media, you're going to find that the animosities are just going to deepen. And you're going to find that you sort of almost draw viewers and readers to the people you're attacking. You build them up in some ways, you give them stature."

He added: "The press always has the last barrel of ink."

Gergen's sentiments were echoed by Tony Blankley, who once served as press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"Going after a news organization, in my experience, is always a loser," Blankley said on CNN. "They have a big audience. And Fox has an audience of not just conservatives -- they've got liberals and moderates who watch too. They've got Obama supporters who are watching. So it's a temptation for a politician, but it needs to be resisted."

Nia Malika Henderson, White House correspondent for the Politico newspaper, also questioned the White House offensive against Fox.

"Obama's only been a boon to their ratings and I don't understand how this kind of escalation of rhetoric and kind of taking them on, one on one, would do anything other than escalate their ratings even more," she said

The Seperation of Journalism and State

Quit your whining!

Obama says: "Press is Perpetuating 'Rude' Behavior"

"I think it's important for the media, you know - not to do any media-bashing here - to recognize that right now, in this 24-hour news cycle, the easiest way to get on CNN is or Fox or any of the other stations, MSNBC is to say something rude and outrageous," Obama said on CNN's Sept. 20 "State of the Union." "If you're civil and polite and you're sensible and you don't exaggerate the-bad things about your opponent and you know, you might get on one of the Sunday shows. But you're not going to be on the loop. And, you know, part of what I'd like to see is all of us reward decency and civility in our political discourse."

I think, that frankly, the media encourages some of the outliers in behavior, because, let's face it - the easiest way to get on television right now is to be really rude," Obama said on ABC's Sept. 20 "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "If you're just being sensible and giving people the benefit of the doubt and you're making your arguments, you don't, you don't get time on the nightly news."

The Commander-in-Chief urged those in Washington to "disagree without being disagreeable" and thus falling victim to the 24-hour news cycle.

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Did the President just lecture the media on 'rudeness'?? Really?! That is what he is concerned with? He has this air of elitism surrounding him that causes him to be totally ambivalent to the fact that people actually disagree with him. He dismisses every ounce of opposition as 'rude' or 'silly' or 'extreme'. Then when the majority of people disagree with him he blames the media (THE MEDIA!) for perpetuating it.

Then he has the audacity to propose giving federal money to the newspaper industry.

OBAMA OPEN TO NEWSPAPER BAILOUT BILL...

Really? Is this Venezuela? We've already been been asked to 'flag' the opposition, now the president is publicly chastising the cable media while proposing to bail out print media??

"Newspaper Revitalization Act," - would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations (non-profits)

"I'll be happy to look at them"- Obama

We all know about the separation of Church and State, but the Separation of Journalism and State is by far clearer and holier to Americans.

Unbelievable people!

From Chairman Barack: "I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding,"

Read as: I'm concerned with free speech and freedom of the press because they are turning against me.

Bailouts to the banks, the auto industry and insurance industry have all come with government controlled stipulations. Imagine tying the funding to the newspaper industry to the Journalism Czar!! Appointed by The President?!

Maxine Water - Profile the protesters for 'racism'

"The media should investigate the racial views of conservative activists like the ones who descended on Washington last weekend"

ROUND THEM UP!

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said that it's not enough for African-Americans to levy allegations of racism against the right-leaning protesters, and that the media must look into their views.

"I want those people talked to; I want them interviewed," Waters told the liberal Bill Press Radio show in a podcast. "I want journalists to be all over those rallies and the marches with the birthers and the teabaggers."

"What I'm looking for is the very people who carry the signs who are referring to the policies in very, very strange ways like 'Obamacare' and 'Barry Obamacare with Kennedy,'" she said. "What I've been interested in is hearing from those people that everybody's referring to -- everybody on the Mall, in the rally."

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WTF??

Thou shall not criticize the President

Thou shall not criticize the President

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”

• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”

• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”

• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

• call the President a “liar.”

• call the President a “hypocrite.”

• describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”

• charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”

• refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”

• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”

Whoa! Didn't Democrats levy ALL of this forbidden phrases against Bush??

Since when are our Representatives not allowed to criticize the President?

Everyone shall fall in and worship our leader Chairman Barack.

Is it just me or does Barack have the thinnest skin ever? Is that racist to thin skinned people?

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

From CNET

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government.

Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.

Why are anti-Obama citizens un-American?

White House DID send unwanted e-mails...

DID send unwanted e-mails...

WASHINGTON (AP) - After insisting no one was receiving unsolicited e-mails from the White House, officials reversed their story Monday night...

"It has come to our attention that some people may have been subscribed to our e-mail lists without their knowledge—likely as a result of efforts by outside groups of all political stripes—and we regret any inconvenience caused by receiving an unexpected message," Phillips wrote.

"We're certainly not interested in anyone receiving e-mails from the White House who don't want them."

Whoa!! Really?? I thought the entire idea was to spam-email who didn't support health care reform? So apparently you are only intending to spam your supporters? Instead of preaching to the choir, you are spamming the choir??

Mystery continues...

White House will not tell us who is on their distribution "list" or how these people got on this "list".

Unsolicited E-Mail on Health Care

Mystery distribution list is sending unsolicited propaganda to American citizens.

Obama is spamming us with propaganda while simultaneously asking you to report and flag the opposition.

FoxNews Blog - leave a comment here if you've received an unsolicited email from Obama or Axelrod

Update:

White House Passes Blame For Unsolicited E-Mails

In a FOX News exclusive, the White House blames third-party groups for health care e-mails

Update: White House will change e-mail rules

The White House said Sunday night that it will change its e-mail sign-up procedures after some recipients of a health-care e-mail complained that they had not asked to receive updates.

“We are implementing measures to make subscribing to e-mails clearer, including preventing advocacy organizations from signing people up to our lists without their permission when they deliver petition signatures and other messages on individual’s behalf,” spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a statement Sunday night.

After a few such recipients appeared on Fox News, White House officials determined that advocacy groups on the right or left could have sent in the names without the person knowing it. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26169.html#ixzz0ORToviSA

ABCNEWS: Fear Grows for President's Safety as Hate Groups Thrive...

ABCNEWS: Fear Grows for President's Safety as Hate Groups Thrive...

The hypocracy is maddening...

How is this:

Any differnt that this:

Barack gets a little heat and some noisy protesters an all

of a sudden we are on Obama-death-watch.

Flag this!

Please send this website to flag@whitehouse.gove

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

Obama launches e-mail campaign on health care

Obama launches e-mail campaign on health care- USA Today

Question: Who would the White House want to convince?

Answer: Opponents of Health Care

Question: Where would the White House get am email list of health care opposition?

Answer: flag@whitehouse.gov

The e-mail also provides a link to the White House website"Health Insurance Reform Reality Check."

Are you serious? Obama chastises the opposition for emails and "casual conversation" .... but then they turn around and do the same thing?

Let's not forget that it is Barack Obama who is spreading rumors that AARP endorses the health care bill.

The White House asked people to FLAG rumors that were spread via emails and "casual conversation" ... and then they spread their own email to the people that were flagged?

Are you serious? I thought they weren't compiling a list??

Listening or dictating??

Obama: 8,619 words.

Audience: 1,186 words.

AP

Town halls are said to be chance for interactive discourse but a look at president's event in Portsmouth, N.H., shows he out-spoke audience by margin of nearly 9-to-1

So is Obama using Town Hall's to sell his message or listen to the people?

I guess he is talking 9 times as much as he is listening.