Obama's War on Truth

Less than a year after being elected as our 44th president, Barack Obama has officially declared his war on alternative media. In the past few months, the administration, and even the President himself, have initiated an aggressive offensive against Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and other similar news sources. Just three days after being inaugurated, President Obama took to Capitol Hill to warn Republicans of the dangers of talk radio. During a meeting with GOP leaders, which was originally intended for the discussion of his nearly $1 trillion (failed) stimulus package, he said that Republicans could not continue listening to Rush Limbaugh and expect to get things done. Despite the fact that our country was entering the largest economic slump since the days of one of his role models, former President Jimmy Carter, Obama felt it was more important to attempt to discredit Limbaugh. Although it would seem more logical to discuss matters of actual significance to the American people and to take care of the matter at hand, the President decided to make childish attacks on the radio legend instead.

The conflict between Fox News and the Obama administration officially kicked off in August when Chris Wallace fact-checked Tammy Duckworth, the assistant secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs on “Fox News Sunday.” At that point, the White House refused to provide further guests to the program. The White House communications director, Anita Dunn, simply commented that fact-checking an administration official was something she had never seen a Sunday program do. She conveniently ignored that Fox News was correct in checking Duckworth on her comments, given that they were false. The problem that Dunn had was not with the official providing false information, but rather with Fox News calling her out on it. In yet another instance, the goals of the administration were revealed. Instead of sticking to the pressing issues that our country is facing, such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the health care debate, and the recession, the White House is waging a war on truth. They are attacking an entire news network (the most watched in America) for bringing an administration official’s comments into question. Despite the staggering array of critical issues needing to be resolved, the Obama administration is focused on suppressing truth at every opportunity.

In the past few weeks, the administration has stepped up its offense against alternative news outlets, especially Fox News. Anita Dunn was quoted by Time Magazine as saying that Fox News is “opinion journalism masquerading as news.” While commenting on the President’s recent refusal to appear on Fox News, she added that the administration views the network as a “wing of the Republican party” and that it is “not going to legitimize them as a news organization.” That statement, in and of itself, is somewhat comical due to the fact that Fox News consistently leads the nation’s news network ratings by astronomical margins. In addition to Dunn’s remarks, last Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs referred to Fox’s two top-rated opinion programs, and Hannity, as the reason for the administration’s discontent with the network. White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, warned other networks not to be led by or to follow Fox News. This seems logical, given that the administration has been consistently plagued by Fox’s bulletproof reporting of the inconsistencies and false “facts” used by the White House to promote its agendas and keep its secrets. In an effort to stomp out reports that are harmful to the President before they reach the mass public, Emanuel wants to deter other stations from picking up Fox’s stories and spreading them. Given that Fox’s daily viewership which totals more than CNN and MSNBC combined, the truth is likely to reach plenty of Americans whether it is aired by other networks or not. Last weekend, the White House Senior Adviser and chief engineer of Obama’s winning campaign, David Axelrod, claimed that Fox was “not really a news station.” The President himself claimed that Fox News is “operating as a talk radio format.” On Thursday, the Treasury Department attempted to make the Pay Czar, Kenneth Feingold, available for interview. In the past, such interviews have always been made open to every member of the network news pool, which is the rotation of five networks that have shared the daily reporting of the presidency and other aspects of Washington for decades. The White House declared that they would make Feingold available for interview to every network, except Fox. In an unexpected show of true journalism, the bureau chiefs of the five networks banded together and refused to interview Feingold unless Fox was allowed to be included as well. The White House backed down and made the czar available to all five networks

Obama, Emanuel, Dunn, Gibbs, and Axelrod’s comments were all part of the administration’s admitted “new, more aggressive strategy, defined largely by a pledge to push back hard against news stories that are either inaccurate or unflattering.” No administration in the history of our country has ever made such a focused attempt to silence voices that oppose its policies. Despite, or perhaps in light of, Fox’s huge advantage in ratings over all other news networks, Obama’s White House has ignored the public sentiment in favor of balanced news reporting. With attack after attack on Fox, the Obama administration is attempting to cripple the network by discrediting it and scaring its viewers away. The policy has backfired, however, and brought their greater agenda into the light: suppress the truth at all costs. As evidenced by the network pool’s stand against the Treasury Department’s exclusion of Fox, other networks are growing tired of the oppressive tactics used by the White House to control media.

The Obama administration is not the only party trying to impose leftist ideology on its citizens through the media. In May of this year, Great Britain, which is also governed heavily by the left, added Michael Savage to its first list of people banned from entering the country. Savage, an especially outspoken, but nonetheless popular radio talk show host and author, was included on the 16-person list along with neo-Nazi murderers and terrorists. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said Savage had been banned because he exhibited behavior that Britain would not tolerate. Enraged by the ridiculous assertion that he was as significant a threat as terrorists, Savage fought back and filed a libel lawsuit against Smith. The judge ruled in favor of the host and his name was removed from the ban. Following the judge’s decision, the incoming Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, promised to throw out the enemies list altogether.

Because of the enormous outrage from Americans and the British alike, Smith’s decision was able to be overturned. Savage fought back against what he knew was a violation of his rights and won. The Secretary’s actions were part of the larger agenda at play in Britain, which is working behind the scenes of the Obama administration as well. It was just a small power grab in the British government’s attempt to control the means of media and limit what its citizens see and hear. Once again, the attempt failed. People fought back against the violation of free speech and put the government back in its place, for however brief that moment may be. The support of Savage’s listeners and fans gave him the ability to challenge the unlawful ban. This example proves that conservatives still hold the power to change things when they work together, even from across the entire Atlantic Ocean.

In the U.S., Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and others like them are the loudest voices in the media because they tell their viewers and listeners the truth. They refuse to yield to the strong hand of the Obama administration as it tries to suppress the facts at the source. It has become apparent that the White House is specifically attempting to eradicate an entire voice of opposition and prevent political discourse. Little by little, Americans are catching on to the hidden motives underlying the actions of the young administration. Thanks to programs like Beck, Hannity’s America, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, Americans are hearing about the liberties that Obama is stealing away from us and learning what they can do to stop him. Before he has silenced the voices of truth, one can only hope that it will be November of 2012 and America will come together to unseat this tyranny before it can wreak further havoc upon our rights.