Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Attack on media is an attack on informed citizens


When the dots are connected, the picture becomes frighteningly clear. The Bush presidency has embarked on a calculated program to keep American citizens in the dark about conduct that violates their rights and callously deceives the other two branches of government.

President Bush has ordered more documents classified and closed to the public than any president before, including presidential papers normally studied by scholars and historians. The CIA has even re-classified documents that were publicly examined and published years ago.

With such a vast sea of documents classified as non-public, most papers revealing presidential policy decisions could be construed as involving "national security," since the executive branch is supervised by the president and commander-in-chief .

Having created a virtual blackout of information in classified documents, President Bush's Justice Department is now using the 1917 Espionage Act to frighten reporters from using "leaked" information and is studying prosecution of others for divulging what they find in the leaked classified information.

What might be next? Censoring news dispatches from Iraq and Afghanistan to conceal bad news while the Pentagon issues "good news" public relations statements to boost home-front morale as a necessary weapon in the "war on terror"?

If this blueprint for an information blackout seems to have parallels in ruthless authoritarian governments that rely on docile, uninformed citizens and a muzzled media to rule, you're correct.

This frantic White House effort to silence the media through threats is because enterprising reporters have exposed a string of flawed, perhaps lawless, White House decisions that are politically humiliating and that contradict the promised CEO competence of his administration.

They stretch through revelations of phony budget figures, shortages of equipment and armor for GIs in Iraq, the leak of a CIA operative's name for political revenge, torture of detainees in secret overseas prisons, incompetence in response to Hurricane Katrina, plans to open pristine areas of parks for industrial exploitation, and electronic surveillance without required warrants.

The media's auditing of Bush administration performance has served democracy well and kept citizens informed. But it has been disastrous for the administration. Nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the president's performance.

If President Bush and his disciples of an unchecked presidency prevail and can subdue news media from reporting on government malfeasance, then the legislative and judicial branches will be next to be tamed into obedience and subservience.

And then, wherefore, democracy?




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.