{"id":3339,"date":"2010-11-30T14:50:30","date_gmt":"2010-11-30T22:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3339"},"modified":"2010-11-30T14:50:30","modified_gmt":"2010-11-30T22:50:30","slug":"fox-nation-and-the-right-wing-embrace-of-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3339","title":{"rendered":"Fox Nation And The Right-Wing Embrace Of Censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The release of some 250,000 documents by WikiLeaks has stirred up a hornets nest of protest from the rightist martinets of virtue. There have been calls to shut down the WikiLeaks web site, to arrest its principals, and even to execute those responsible for treason. But what it all amounts to in the end is that the right-wing extremists just simply abhor a free press.<\/p>\n

The Fox Nation has been consumed with the issue, promoting it beyond all other news items. The economy, jobs, Iraq, Afghanistan, tax cuts, etc., have all taken a back seat to WikiLeaks. As of this writing the front page of the Fox Nation has six separate articles on this subject.<\/p>\n

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It is impossible to ignore the fact that in their haste to criticize the WikiLeaks document dump, the Fox Nationalists frame their criticism in a barrage of animus directed at President Obama. The whole thing is somehow his fault. What’s more, they condemn his response to it as “incompetent”<\/em> and “gutless.”<\/em> Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly are “livid”<\/em> – and Lord knows we can’t have that.<\/p>\n

But here’s the thing: If Obama had taken a hardball approach to this, cutting off access to the WikiLeaks web site and arresting those involved, the reaction from the right would be to assail him as a tyrant intent on imposing censorship on independent media. They would be shocked that an American president would assert such unprecedented control over a private enterprise. It would be portrayed as fascist or Stalinist oppression (take your pick). So either way, the right would engage in a fevered bashing of the President. It’s what they do.<\/p>\n

Since the President has accommodated the right by taking a measured approach to ascertain the facts and proceed with due diligence, the right is free to wail about such imaginary violations as treason. But what they are really condemning is freedom of thought and expression. And it isn’t the first time. During the Bush administration a Republican congress voted to condemn<\/a> the New York Times for publishing a story that revealed the government’s unlawful spying into the banking activities of American citizens. If Obama’s administration were to propose such an intrusion he would be castigated as a dictator bent on destroying America (again).<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, the WikiLeaks affair is being used as a cudgel with which to hammer the President. But it is also being used as en excuse to censor independent sources of information and to intimidate anyone who entertains the notion of revealing to the American people what is being done by government in their name. It doesn’t matter if it’s an obscure, off-shore web site or the New York Times. The right is intent on suppressing free expression. They prove it again and again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The release of some 250,000 documents by WikiLeaks has stirred up a hornets nest of protest from the rightist martinets of virtue. There have been calls to shut down the WikiLeaks web site, to arrest its principals, and even to execute those responsible for treason. But what it all amounts to in the end is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[183,33,79,845],"class_list":["post-3339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-fox-news","tag-new-york-times","tag-wikileaks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-RR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41170,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=41170","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":0},"title":"How Crazy Sick is Trump? 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At other times he just utters blatant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Julian Assange","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-assange.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-assange.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-assange.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6942,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6942","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":1},"title":"Fox News Distorts WikiLeaks Data To Advance Phony Voter Fraud Claims","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/24\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Republicans have lately been busy pushing a manufactured fallacy that there is rampant, in-person voter fraud destroying fair elections across America. 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