Associated Press Wants To Take Your Right To Free Speech

Read this post written by Steven R. Hurst from the Associated Press.

Now, let's pick it apart and point out the lies and half-truths that he is forgetting.

Vitriol and invective stain American political history, but falsehoods, half-truths and innuendo now spread with the speed of light across partisan airwaves and the Internet — the din drowning out the country’s moderate political center.

It sure does, but who else is vomiting these falsehoods, half-truths and innuendo? Well, here are some examples:

• Owned by Arianna Huffington, who's oil tycoon husband, Michael Huffington is a friend of the Bush's, posted an outright lie on March 14, 2009.

• MoveOn claimed that General Petraeus presented cherry-picked facts and misleading data to sell the idea that the surge is working.

• The two 30-second MoveOn TV ads "Dumping Billions" and "Red-Handed Defense", which was proven to be lies by FactCheck.org.

• What about Dan Rather's airing of fake documents in regards to George W. Bush's military service?

• How about the disgusting, doctored photo of Bush and Lieberman originally posted at the DailyKos? You'll have to scroll down a bit to see it.

Countless Internet blogs have taken on the administration of the first African-American president, claiming — falsely — that Barack Obama isn’t an American citizen, is a secret Muslim, is a socialist, wants to establish death panels to decide when elderly Americans would no longer receive medical care and be allowed to die. The list is long.

He is a socialist, to wit:

Socialist - One who advocates socialism

Socialism - A system of society or group living in which there is no private property and a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

Can you say GM, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? Sounds like socialism to me. And then there is the old race card. Yes, there are many bloggers, such as myself, who have taken on Barack Obama, as well as many other politicians on the left and the right. However, those bloggers that have decided to question his citizenship are in a group unto themselves; I certainly don't align myself with these people. As to death panels, maybe they should read HR 1, an article I wrote and Betsy McCaughey's article and maybe they might see that, indeed, there are death panels.

Most recently, a partisan furor blew up when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Republican national chairman Michael Steele set the tone, declaring that giving the prize to the U.S. commander in chief showed "how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become."

Well, gee, maybe the "furor" has something to do with the fact that he was awarded the prize when he was two weeks into the presidency. Isn't it supposed to be awarded to those who have already made accomplishments or in the hopes that they do? Are you going to shout out that SNL should be shut down because they are of the same opinion? Of course, we all know what happens when your base turns on you.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, was not immune, nor was former President Bill Clinton. But today the volume of screeching partisanship is cleaving the American electorate, perhaps as deeply as at any time since the Civil War a century and a half ago.

To say that George W. Bush wasn't immune is an understatement. As for Bill Clinton, well, what do you expect? He did it to himself and it depends what is is.

"The environment is much more extreme today because of the level of public involvement, the level of incivility among both the political elite and the public," said Chris Dolan, a political scientist at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa.

How so? Because people are finally standing up to their representatives at town hall meetings? Or the tens of thousands of pissed off Americans marching on Washington, where ZERO arrests were made. Or, is Chris Dolan referring to the riots at the recent G20 meeting, where many people were arrested and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage was done? Which group is he referring to in regards to incivility?

At Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., Clyde Frazier said, "It is nasty and getting nastier." While he believes American history is littered with dirtier political periods and nastier claims among politicians, Frazier, also a political scientist, sees today’s climate partly the result of the "media culture. Vitriol seems to sell. If you are telling people the end of the world is at hand, they watch."

It sure is getting nastier, particularly when the left wing, fringe media has pumped millions into getting Obama elected and people, like Contessa Brewer, blatantly misuses video. Not to mention that the fringe media seems to be complicit in hiding, by not reporting, on issues that puts Obama in a negative light.

From the lectern at the White House briefing room, press secretary Robert Gibbs routinely bemoans what he sees as the negative slant on coverage of Obama by the conservative Fox News cable television outlet.

What does Baghdad Bob Gibbs expect when nobody can get real news from, what has turned into, state run media? A recent Pew research poll shows that FoxNews carried the most balanced news coverage of all others during the campaigns. As to a negative slant, he is referring to Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. Yet, Baghdad Bob glosses over and omits other commentators on FoxNews that rarely mention the White House, such as Shepherd Smith.

While Americans once sought news from media outlets that aimed for objectivity, many are now turning to sources that reinforce their political viewpoints, including the conservative Fox News and the liberal MSNBC on cable television and the exploding blogosphere that ranges across the political spectrum.

I can't really argue this point. However, FoxNews being the only cable news outlet that reports both good and bad on the current administration, it's no wonder that they repeatedly beat the other news channels combined in the ratings. As the for the blogosphere, fear not because Net Neutrality is on its way.

The heated partisan atmosphere produced a staggering break with decorum last month when a member of the House of Representatives shouted out "You lie!" as Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress, extolling his efforts to overhaul the American health care system.

Which, as we now know, was correct. 'Nuff said.

Not long afterward Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., took the House floor to attack minority Republicans on health care, declaring, "The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick." A Republican congressman quickly drafted a call for Grayson’s reprimand, but the matter was later dropped.

What's fair is fair. Rep. Joe Wilson apologized repeatedly and Obama accepted, yet Queen Speaker dragged it out of him publicly and was reprimanded. What consequences did Grayson face?

Partisan political pundits took both events and ran with them, conservative Republicans praising Wilson’s courage as liberals voiced shock over his lack of respect. Grayson took praise and heat from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

That's what they do. It's called free speech, at least for now. If you don't like what you are hearing, tune into another station.

"Political animosity has become professionalized," said Frazier, specifically mentioning talk radio’s ultraconservative Rush Limbaugh, who openly calls for the failure of the Obama presidency. Fox News’ Glenn Beck says Obama is a racist.

That's because if any of Obama's policies get passed, this country will not be the great nation we are now. As it is, he is taking us down the path of economic suicide, started by democrats, continued by Bush and accelerated by Obama. As for Glenn beck calling Obama a racist, that's his opinion. What about those who called Bush a racist after hurricane Katrina?

The revival of bitter partisanship has built quickly and steadily since the nation united behind Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. It was quickly discovered that his rationale for going to war in Iraq — claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction — was untrue and the temporary unity dissolved.

Yet, nowhere does it mention that other nation's intelligence departments came to the same conclusion about WMDs in Iraq. Nor is it mentioned that MI-6 may have misled everyone into believing that Hussein had them. Why doesn't anyone care to give Bush props for standing up to the worthless United Nations and take action against a country, who's leader violated 17 sanctions? Now we know that Saddam Hussein lied about WMDs to keep Iran in check.

"It’s a hard thing to stop and it is escalating" each time Republicans or Democrats cede power in the capital, said Jack Holmes, political science professor at Hope College in Holland, Mich.

Did he ever stop to think that Americans are pissed off at our politicians and have decided to stand up to them? Did he forget that our politicians work for us, not the other way around?

Is there away out?

"At a certain point the public well demand an end, say ‘we want this to stop,’" said Holmes. "The public has to demand it and will start judging political leaders accordingly."

A signal moment arose when Obama came under attack from opponents when he planned an Internet address at the start of the school year to encourage students to work hard and stay in school. He was accused, before the very moderate and apolitical address, of wanting to indoctrinate pupils and students with his alleged "socialist" ideals. He left the doomsayers with red faces…

There sure is a way out and they are demanding it now. When our government officials, that we elect, call us Nazis, uncivil and astroturf, we have a problem. When our politicians start to see someone else take there place, then they'll get the message. Obama's original speech was in question and parents have a legitimate right to be concerned. What would have happened if George W. Bush had done something like that?