"For words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within" (Tennyson).

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

It's Getting Awfully Chilly, Mr. Obama

What follows is a smattering of articles that came up with a simple Bing query using search terms "chilling" and "Obama administration." Not all of these are from "right-leaning" publications or authors.
"Obama Administration Mistakes Journalism for Espionage," by Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post. "The Obama administration has no business rummaging through journalists' phone records, perusing their e-mails and tracking their movements in an attempt to keep them from gathering news. This heavy-handed business isn’t chilling, it’s just plain cold. It also may well be unconstitutional."
"Spying on the Associated Press," New York Times, Editorial. "The Obama administration, which has a chilling zeal for investigating leaks and prosecuting leakers, has failed to offer a credible justification for secretly combing through the phone records of reporters and editors at The Associated Press in what looks like a fishing expedition for sources and an effort to frighten off whistle-blowers."
"Sharyl Attkisson's Computers Compromised," by Dylan Byers, Politico.  "Attkisson told WPHT that irregular activity on her computer was first identified in Feb. 2011, when she was reporting on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and on the Obama administration's green energy spending, which she said 'the administration was very sensitive about.' Attkisson has also been a persistent investigator of the events surrounding last year's attack in Benghazi, and its aftermath."
 "Obama Whistleblower Prosecutions Lead to Chilling Effect on Press," Huffington Post (not sure who the author is here). “'I can tell you that people who normally would meet with me, sort of in a more relaxed atmosphere, are on pins and needles,' [Jonathan] Landay said of the reporting climate during the Obama years, a period of unprecedented whistleblower prosecutions. The crackdown on leaks, he added, seems 'deliberately intended to have a chilling effect.'”
"How Hope and Change Gave Way to Spying on the Press," by Kirsten Powers, The Daily Beast. "Even one outlet [Fox News] that allowed dissent or criticism of the president was one too many. This should have been a red flag to everyone, regardless of what they thought of Fox News. The math was simple: if the administration would abuse its power to try and intimidate one media outlet, what made anyone think they weren’t next?"
 "The Obama Objective: To Control the News," Investors Business Daily editorial. "The latest news that the Justice Department investigated Fox News reporter James Rosen and two other newsmen in the normal course of their investigative reporting on a national security matter — coming on the heels of their seizure of Associated Press phone records — suggests an administration obsessed with controlling the news itself with a heavy hand reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. . . Our question: When, and where, is this war against the media going to stop?"
 "Culture of Intimidation," by Ben Shapiro, Breitbart.com.  "The intimidation comes from the top down in the Obama administration. And it is pervasive."
 The War on Whistleblowers, a documentary by Brave New Foundation. "Speaking truth to power is now a criminal act." Here's a trailer:

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