Now An Attack on the First Amendment

by M. Richard Maxson


    The  Democratic Socialist Obama administration continuing attack on the Constitution continues by to be exposed bit by bit. It was not until the revelation that news organizations, specifically the AP, were being targeted did the press suddenly re-think it's love affair with it's "Progressive" friends.
     First, we discovered that the Justice Department had obtained two months’ worth of phone records from Associated Press journalists as part of a leak probe.  Now, The Washington Post reports that the Nation’s primary law enforcement agency has been tracking a Fox News reporter’s coming and goings from the State Department and has obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal emails.
     The FBI is reportedly making the unprecedented claim that the Fox journalist -- James Rosen -- broke the law by doing his job; namely, gathering information. No reporter has ever been prosecuted for soliciting information. The reaction from the news network was to the point, "We are outraged to learn today that James Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter. In fact, it is downright chilling. We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press." Brit Hume, a career and respected journalist was outraged and stated, "The Obama-Holder Justice Department is now prepared to treat the ordinary news gathering activities of reporters trying to seek information from government officials as a possible crime," he said.
    The administration’s moves against political reporters strike at the core of the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press.  The framers of the Bill of Rights put the rights of speech and press together with the rights “peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” A citizen’s right to investigate, and even to criticize, the government is “the heart of what the First Amendment was meant to protect,” according to Justice Antonin Scalia.
    This, along with the administrations determined attack on whistle-blowers who expose the ileagality of their actions should strike horror into the souls of true Americans. The attempt to smear and destroy these Patriots reputations and careers has it's roots in Communist Socialism.
    A new report from the Office of Inspector General report showed that Dennis Burke -- the former chief of staff for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed as U.S. Attorney for Arizona by President Obama in September 2009 -- lied when asked if he leaked sensitive documents to the press meant to undermine the credibility of ATF whistle-blower John Dodson. The IG report also said Burke likely leaked the memo in retaliation for Dodson's whistle-blowing, and challenged the credibility of statements he made to congressional investigators.
    The report continues,  "We also concluded that Burke's disclosure of the Dodson memorandum was likely motivated by a desire to undermine Dodson's public criticisms of Operation Fast and Furious. Although Burke denied to congressional investigators that he had any retaliatory motive for his actions, we found substantial evidence to the contrary."
    So what did the Justice department do about the disclosure? A prominent Senator expressed it in chilling terms, "Instead of examining the allegations that came forward, the Justice Department almost immediately began to attack the credibility and good name of a dedicated federal agent upset with what he was ordered to do."
    This can only be the tip of the iceberg. Only a portion of what is going on under our noses and behind our backs. It will continue until the people wake up and stop electing Democratic Socialists to power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It may already be too late for America.