President Obama Warns Ukraine To Treat Dissenters Like He Does. But Ukraine Officials Do Not Have The IRS At Their Disposal...Tweet by Jay Carnie
- As any student of history knows (as its victims know well), governments that control health care, abridge privacy and restrain the press have all been oppressive and tyrannical. Those of you who have been regular readers of mine know I'm all too familiar with Communist regimes. They presented an illusion of offering many free things like health care, but those came with a price---the abridgment of the freedom and liberty. By the way, their free health care sucked.
- So it really came as no surprise to me with the reports yesterday that our own government wants to place "monitors" in our nation's newsrooms. Actually, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) actually proposed this last May. Their purpose was to determine the process by which stories are selected. This would also include examining "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to undeserved populations." In fact, it's been reported the FCC has already selected eight categories of "critical information" that the news stations should be carrying.
- Now for those who might be charging me and others with brandishing hysteria, I have two government organizations for you to consider: IRS and NSA.
- Allow me to also remind you of several incidents in the past. In May of last year, the feds targeted James Rosen of Fox News. His emails and phone messages were also compromised. Even the far-Left Huffington Post wrote at the time: "The DOJ Targeting Of Fox News Reporter James Rosen Risks Criminalizing Journalism." The Department of Justice also targeted the Associated Press.
- Several months earlier, respected reporter of Watergate fame, Bob Woodward, reported he was on the receiving end of WH intimidation when he referred to the sequester as "madness." About the same time, Bill Plante of CBS News, said, "They {the Obama administration} are undercutting the First Amendment."
- But perhaps the hardest hitting attack by the media of the administration's harassment of the press came from non other than USA TODAY (which often surprises even me): "Another day, another excessive use of government power by the Obama administration."
- So the question remains: Is America in peril with the scope of this government's overreach? Once again, I'm not offering up hysterical visions of past tyrannical regimes. However, that question should be asked in the face of the attacks we've seen by our own government on its citizens whether coming from the IRS, the DOJ or the FCC.
- When referring to Obamacare, I think Michelle Malkin said it best last week: "It's a criminal enterprise rooted in ideological fraud." If that's all it is, we're lucky.
