PrintAugust 13, 2009
Now Being American Is Un-American
Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer said this Monday about those who are protesting against Obamacare:
"Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."
But who is really trying to drown out the opposition?
The Democrats tried everything to drown out opposing views after Bush won. They whined, stomped, and shut good folks down for years. We suffered the slings and arrows of relentless attacks and smears, but understood it was part of the leftist dialogue.
Now their efforts to drown out the opposition have become more insidious. President Obama recently said:
"I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."
"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."
This is astounding. The desired effect of such a proclamation? A chilling assault on free speech. Senator John Cornyn sees exactly that: "I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy' or otherwise inimical to the White House's political interests.... As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights."
George W. Bush refused to address his detractors and the mass media smear campaign. That was Bush's fatal flaw. In direct contrast, Obama's agenda of complete control is his fatal flaw; in a word, it's fascism.
It gets worse. Erick Erickson reported at RedState.com that Obama is using the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to gather data on free citizens:
"... the NTIA is now requiring internet provides to give the government ‘average revenue per end user and data regarding type, technical specification or location of broadband infrastructure,' i.e. your home address, IP address, how much you pay, and where the connection is at your house." That means that "we have a White House asking neighbors to turn in neighbors by forwarding emails - some of which will contain IP address information. And we have the White House demanding internet providers provide them with the home addresses corresponding to those IP addresses."
Free speech is our most important right - our fundamental protection against tyranny. Ayn Rand said it best:
"The principle of free speech is not concerned with the content of a man's speech and does not protect only the expression of good ideas, but all ideas. If it were otherwise, who would determine which ideas are good and where forbidden? The government?"
Obama and Pelosi seem to want that power. The Democrats' desire to silence dissent and spy on the American people bodes most ill. It is definitely Orwellian stuff. It's coming, folks, sooner rather than later.
"Once a country accepts censorship of the press and of speech, then nothing can be won without violence. Therefore, so long as you have free speech, protect it. This is the life-and-death issue in this country: do not give up the freedom of the press -- of newspapers, books, magazines, radio, movies, and other forms of presenting ideas. So long as that's free, a peaceful intellectual turn is possible."
Obama is already backtracking. White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said:
"The President thinks that if people want to come and have a spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it, that's a part of the American tradition and he encourages that, because people do have questions and concerns ...And so if people want to come and have their concerns and their questions answered, the President thinks that's important." But it isn't enough: this is, don't forget, the man who just said that he didn't want "the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking."
In 2003, Hillary Clinton said this:
"I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration."
Does she believe the same thing now? Will she stand up to the President? Will free Americans stand up to him? The time is now.
Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and former associate publisher of the New York Observer.
