That seems to be message being sent out by the Obama/Biden camp these days. We've seen it in how they give their none-too-subtle approval for the way MSM has tried to pillory Sarah Palin and John McCain with falsehoods (Gov. Palin's supposed fake pregnancy), manipulation of facts to suit the dems' purposes (so-called troopergate), and misrepresentation of Senator McCain's voiting history. Oh, and let's not forget about the role Bill Clinton and the democrats played in setting up the current banking crisis, especially with regard to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Now comes the latest and most blatant example of what the democratic candidates truly believe when it comes to freedom of the press.
This past Thursday, Joe Biden was interviewed via satellite by WFTV reporter Barbara West. (http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html). This wasn't the first time Biden had been interviewed by Ms. West. For that matter, she had also interviewed Obama as well. So, it wasn't as if they didn't know she was a reporter who asked questions her viewers wanted answers to.
Before getting to Thursday's interview, here's a quick overview of the questions she asked Biden on Sept. 26th, just before the presidential debate.
- did it help or hurt Senator McCain to suspend his campaign in order to return to Washington to work on the bailout bill?
- what would it take to climb out of the current financial crisis?
- people with accounts in WaMu are worried. How will WaMu's collapse effect them?
- how much more in taxes can the people stand? (asked with regard to the bail out plan)
- how did Biden respond to speculation that, after the vice-presidential debate, he'd bow out of the race for "health reasons" and Hilary Clinton would step in?
- (http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html)
Fast forward to Thursday. Once again, Ms. West interviewed Biden via satellite. This time, her questions, with one exception, came directly from comments made either by Obama or Biden, himself. The one exception was when she asked Biden if he was "embarrassed" by the fact ACORN has been caught committed what amounts to voter fraud, especially since Obama has such a long history with ACORN. Biden immediately went on the defensive, pointing out that their campaign had never "paid" ACORN to do anything like that and going on to say that Obama has never been a benefactor for ACORN in the senate. In fact, he went so far as to say that John McCain had been more of a supporter of ACORN in the senate than had Obama. Excuse me?
Three of the next four questions dealt with Obama's plan to "spread the wealth around" and whether or not that smacks of Marxism. She even had the audacity (tongue firmly planted in cheek here) to say that there are some who are worried Obama wants to turn America into a socialist country much like Sweden (does anyone remember his national police force comment?). Now, good ole Joe didn't like the tenor of these questions at all and even went so far as to say that the only ones who have done anything like that are Bush and McCain by "spreading the wealth upward". Huh?
The other question she asked came straight from a Biden quote. She wanted to know if, when he said foreign powers would test Obama within six months of becoming president, that mean he was warning that America's time as a world leader was over.
Hard questions? Yes. Questions that needed to be asked? Most definitely. The response from the Obama/Biden camp? Read it for yourself --
Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.
"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."
(http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2008/10/obama-campaign.html)
So, it's wrong for John McCain to cancel an appearance on David Letterman who, the last time I checked, wasn't a member of the media (although these days it's hard to tell the entertainers from the reporters) over the way Letterman treated Sarah Palin, but it's certainly all right to refuse to talk to reporters because you don't like the questions they ask. Hmm...sounds like a great way to encourage freedom of the press and an informed electorate to me -- NOT!
Read the response from the Obama camp again. They didn't just cancel Mrs. Biden's appearance. They stated that "further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election." (emphasis added) In other words, this station is to be punished because one reporter had the integrity to ask questions her viewers wanted answered. Good for her. Shame on the democrats for doing their best not only to silence her but to undermine the intent of the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Think about this: How can a man who wants to lead this, the greatest nation in the world, approve of actions that effectively silence the voice of dissent? Is this the sort of man we dare trust with the rest of our civil liberties as guaranteed under the Constitution?
For me, the answer is simple enough. No. If he is willing to silence the press because he doesn't like the questions they ask, I don't want to know what else he is willing to do to insure we think, act and say all the "right" things.
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