Media Wars: The First Amendment in Peril

The Bible says in John 8:32” And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (NKJV).  Knowing the truth sets us free from falling for lies.  This is why our nation’s founders included the right to a free press in the first amendment to our constitution.  They envisioned a media that would have an adversarial relationship with the government in order to protect citizens from any hidden agendas.  The founders of our nation are rolling over in our grave when they see how President Obama has been able to create a relationship with the main stream media that more closely resembles a media as an administration PR office rather than adversarial. 

However, as with any relationship, the relationship of this administration with the media has recently become strained.  It began with the revelation that the administration had secured phone records of certain phones at the Associated Press (AP).  The administration claims it secured the records as part of an investigation of leaks of national security secrets to the media. (1) Granted, it is important for the administration to stop any leaks of national security secrets to the media but why not secure the phone records within the administration to detect the leak instead of targeting one of many media outlets.  I mean by only targeting AP, you may miss something that was leaked to another media outlet. 

Investigators have also discovered that even prior to the securing of phone records of the AP; the administration was targeting James Rosen of Fox News.  Mr. Rosen wrote in his blog that he felt North Korea would respond to United Nations sanctions with more nuclear tests.  The administration alleges that Mr. Rosen secured this information through a leak from Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, an arms expert at the State Department.  (2)  Instead of securing Mr. Rosen’s phone records, why not secure the phone records of Jin-Woo Kim to see whom else he may have leaked information to.

As these revelations came forward, Attorney General Holder continued to claim he knew nothing about what was going on (1) but it has now been discovered that Holder actually approved the warrant to search the Emails of James Rosen.  (3)  I guess I am to believe the Attorney General of the United States approves warrants for which he has no knowledge of the purpose.  Therefore, Attorney General Holder is either lying, or incompetent.  Holder’s failure to put his recusal from the AP investigation in writing is another example of either a lie or incompetence.  (4)

During the entire Obama Administration, we have been the victims of a mainstream media that attacks anyone that dares come against the policies of this administration while failing to do their job of speaking out when the administration’s policies are failing.  It now appears that the administration is trying to control the media through fear of the seizure of emails and phone records.  This represents a blatant disregard of the media's right to freedom of the press. 

We need to begin demanding the immediate resignation of Attorney General Holder due to his lies and incompetence.  We then need to hire an independent prosecutor with the power to subpoena witnesses who will be forced to testify under oath.  We also need to support media outlets that fearlessly speak the truth for as the Bible says in John 8:32, the truth sets us free. 

1. Associated Press. HOLDER: 'I KNOW NOTHING'. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Associated Press, May 15, 2013. [Cited: May 28, 2013.] http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/15/GOP--Dems-challenge-Holder-over-subpoenas-to-AP.

2. Bigelow, William. BEFORE AP: DOJ TARGETED FOX NEWS' JAMES ROSEN. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart, May 20, 2013. [Cited: May 28, 2013.] http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/19/Obama-Administration-Pursued-Cases-Like-AP-s-In-2009.

3. Shield, Elizabeth. Official: Holder Approved Warrant for Fox News Reporter's Emails. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart, May 23, 2013. [Cited: May 28, 2013.] http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/05/23/Official-Holder-Approved-Warrant-for-Fox-News-Reporter-s-Emails.

4. Boyle, Matthew. CONGRESSMAN: HOLDER MAY HAVE BROKEN LAW IN AP SCANDAL. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart, May 15, 2013. [Cited: May 28, 2013.] http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/15/Congressman-Holder-may-have-violated-federal-law-by-not-recusing-from-AP-phone-scandal-in-writing.