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	<title>Comments on: Obama Sneers at the First Amendment</title>
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	<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/</link>
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		<title>By: Oppose Government Healthcare &#171; watercooler</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4411</link>
		<dc:creator>Oppose Government Healthcare &#171; watercooler</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4411</guid>
		<description>[...] Hint hint &#8211; we don&#8217;t want it.Â Â  It doesn&#8217;t make it any better when you are berate people for speaking out in a Town Hall meeting; this is just &#8220;this short&#8221; of violating our first amendment [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Hint hint &#8211; we don&#8217;t want it.Â Â  It doesn&#8217;t make it any better when you are berate people for speaking out in a Town Hall meeting; this is just &#8220;this short&#8221; of violating our first amendment [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Doesn't Red And Blue Make Brown? &#124; Vancouver Secrets</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4410</link>
		<dc:creator>Doesn't Red And Blue Make Brown? &#124; Vancouver Secrets</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:29:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4410</guid>
		<description>[...] would enact &#8220;truth squads&#8220;, &#8220;paid goons&#8220;, or that a president would ever attack Americans for exercising their right of free [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] would enact &#8220;truth squads&#8220;, &#8220;paid goons&#8220;, or that a president would ever attack Americans for exercising their right of free [...]</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: carterthewriter</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4409</link>
		<dc:creator>carterthewriter</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:19:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4409</guid>
		<description>Calling your representative may connect you with a foreign answering service, Carole.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Calling your representative may connect you with a foreign answering service, Carole.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: carterthewriter</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4408</link>
		<dc:creator>carterthewriter</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:16:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4408</guid>
		<description>Well said,Wile.   The Democratic party has used intimidation to gain power throughout the past fifty years and that&#039;s well documented.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well said,Wile.   The Democratic party has used intimidation to gain power throughout the past fifty years and that&#8217;s well documented.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Carole Frazier</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4407</link>
		<dc:creator>Carole Frazier</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:52:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4407</guid>
		<description>2010 is an election year for 1/3 of the senate and all of the house of
representatives. It would be nice if congress got the message; the voting
taxpayers are in charge now.


LET US SHOW OUR LEADERS  IN WASHINGTON &quot;PEOPLE POWER&quot; AND THE POWER OF
THE INTERNET. *PLEASE*  FORWARD TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.

IT DOESN&#039;T MATTER IF  YOU ARE*  REPUBLICAN* OR* DEMOCRAT*!* KEEP  IT GOING!!!!*

START A BILL TO PLACE ALL  POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY****

SOCIAL SECURITY:

(This is worth  reading. It is short and to the point.)**

Perhaps we  are asking the wrong questions during election  years..**

Our Senators and  Congresswomen**  **do  not** pay into Social  Security
and, of course, they do not collect  from it.**
You  see, Social Security benefits were not suitable  for **persons  of
their rare elevation in society**.  They*  felt they should have a*  special
plan*  for themselves So, many years ago they voted in  their *own*  *benefit plan.**

In more recent years, no congress person  has felt the need to change it.
After all, it is  a great plan.**
For  all practical purposes their plan works like  this:

When they retire, they continue to  draw the same pay until they die.
**Except  it may increase from time to time for cost of  living adjustments.**
**For  example, Senator Byrd and Congressman White and  their wives may expect
to draw $7, 800,000.00  (that&#039;s Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand
Dollars), with their wives drawing $275, 000..00  during the last years of
their lives.
This  is calculated on an average life span for each  of those two
Dignitaries.**
Younger Dignitaries**  who retire at an early age, will receive much  more
during the rest of their lives.**

Their cost  for this excellent plan is**  $0.00**.  NADA**!!**!  ZILCH**!!!****

This  little perk they voted for themselves is free to  them.** You  and I
pick up the tab for this plan**. The funds for  this fine retirement plan
come directly from the  General Funds;
**&quot;OUR  TAX DOLLARS AT WORK&quot;!**
From our own Social Security  Plan,**  which you and I pay (or have paid)
into, every  payday until we retire**  (which amount is matched  by**  **our
employer), **We  can expect to get an average of
**$1,000  per month**  **after  retirement.**

Or,  in other words, we would have to collect our  average of $1,000 monthly
benefits for 68 years  and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill  Bradley&#039;s benefits!**
Social  Security could be very good if only one small  change were made.**
That change would be to**
Jerk  the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the  Senators and
Congressmen. . Put them into the  Social Security plan with the rest of  us*
***
Then sit  back.....
**And see how fast  they would fix it!
**If enough  people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness  will be planted
and maybe good changes will  evolve.**

If they really wanted to save money this would be a great idea of where to start
CALL YOUR REPRESENATIVE</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>2010 is an election year for 1/3 of the senate and all of the house of<br />
representatives. It would be nice if congress got the message; the voting<br />
taxpayers are in charge now.</p>
<p>LET US SHOW OUR LEADERS  IN WASHINGTON &#8220;PEOPLE POWER&#8221; AND THE POWER OF<br />
THE INTERNET. *PLEASE*  FORWARD TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.</p>
<p>IT DOESN&#8217;T MATTER IF  YOU ARE*  REPUBLICAN* OR* DEMOCRAT*!* KEEP  IT GOING!!!!*</p>
<p>START A BILL TO PLACE ALL  POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY****</p>
<p>SOCIAL SECURITY:</p>
<p>(This is worth  reading. It is short and to the point.)**</p>
<p>Perhaps we  are asking the wrong questions during election  years..**</p>
<p>Our Senators and  Congresswomen**  **do  not** pay into Social  Security<br />
and, of course, they do not collect  from it.**<br />
You  see, Social Security benefits were not suitable  for **persons  of<br />
their rare elevation in society**.  They*  felt they should have a*  special<br />
plan*  for themselves So, many years ago they voted in  their *own*  *benefit plan.**</p>
<p>In more recent years, no congress person  has felt the need to change it.<br />
After all, it is  a great plan.**<br />
For  all practical purposes their plan works like  this:</p>
<p>When they retire, they continue to  draw the same pay until they die.<br />
**Except  it may increase from time to time for cost of  living adjustments.**<br />
**For  example, Senator Byrd and Congressman White and  their wives may expect<br />
to draw $7, 800,000.00  (that&#8217;s Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand<br />
Dollars), with their wives drawing $275, 000..00  during the last years of<br />
their lives.<br />
This  is calculated on an average life span for each  of those two<br />
Dignitaries.**<br />
Younger Dignitaries**  who retire at an early age, will receive much  more<br />
during the rest of their lives.**</p>
<p>Their cost  for this excellent plan is**  $0.00**.  NADA**!!**!  ZILCH**!!!****</p>
<p>This  little perk they voted for themselves is free to  them.** You  and I<br />
pick up the tab for this plan**. The funds for  this fine retirement plan<br />
come directly from the  General Funds;<br />
**&#8221;OUR  TAX DOLLARS AT WORK&#8221;!**<br />
From our own Social Security  Plan,**  which you and I pay (or have paid)<br />
into, every  payday until we retire**  (which amount is matched  by**  **our<br />
employer), **We  can expect to get an average of<br />
**$1,000  per month**  **after  retirement.**</p>
<p>Or,  in other words, we would have to collect our  average of $1,000 monthly<br />
benefits for 68 years  and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill  Bradley&#8217;s benefits!**<br />
Social  Security could be very good if only one small  change were made.**<br />
That change would be to**<br />
Jerk  the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the  Senators and<br />
Congressmen. . Put them into the  Social Security plan with the rest of  us*<br />
***<br />
Then sit  back&#8230;..<br />
**And see how fast  they would fix it!<br />
**If enough  people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness  will be planted<br />
and maybe good changes will  evolve.**</p>
<p>If they really wanted to save money this would be a great idea of where to start<br />
CALL YOUR REPRESENATIVE</p>
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		<title>By: j. Mandelblum</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4406</link>
		<dc:creator>j. Mandelblum</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:52:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4406</guid>
		<description>What we are watching is reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

This request of ratting on &quot;fishy&quot; emails reminds me of children being stimulated to rat on
their parent displeasure on the regime and perhaps in the USSR as well...

In regards to the meetings, this government &quot;suggestion&quot; to its Congress people to allow into the meeting halls only known loyalists, as well as &quot;suggesting&quot;  to its loyal unioninsts to disrupt protestors and protests, sample of which we have already seen happening,  smacks of Hitler&#039;s SA in the good old days when he was scaling the walls of power...

People of America :
I knew damned well about the &#039;CHANGE&quot;  this demagogue was promising...
It was the same CHANGE Fidel Castro promised the Cuban people and the same CHANGE Chavez promised the Venezuelan people and it surprises me how many of you swallowed it
line, hook and sinker...

So now, having made your bed, if you know what is good for you, either sleep on it or coming elections, kick out as many DEMOCRAP senators and representives as possible and stop the
White House OBAMINATION Jugegernaut from burying deeper this country...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What we are watching is reminiscent of Nazi Germany.</p>
<p>This request of ratting on &#8220;fishy&#8221; emails reminds me of children being stimulated to rat on<br />
their parent displeasure on the regime and perhaps in the USSR as well&#8230;</p>
<p>In regards to the meetings, this government &#8220;suggestion&#8221; to its Congress people to allow into the meeting halls only known loyalists, as well as &#8220;suggesting&#8221;  to its loyal unioninsts to disrupt protestors and protests, sample of which we have already seen happening,  smacks of Hitler&#8217;s SA in the good old days when he was scaling the walls of power&#8230;</p>
<p>People of America :<br />
I knew damned well about the &#8216;CHANGE&#8221;  this demagogue was promising&#8230;<br />
It was the same CHANGE Fidel Castro promised the Cuban people and the same CHANGE Chavez promised the Venezuelan people and it surprises me how many of you swallowed it<br />
line, hook and sinker&#8230;</p>
<p>So now, having made your bed, if you know what is good for you, either sleep on it or coming elections, kick out as many DEMOCRAP senators and representives as possible and stop the<br />
White House OBAMINATION Jugegernaut from burying deeper this country&#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Joyce</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4405</link>
		<dc:creator>Joyce</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:17:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4405</guid>
		<description>The one question I want answered is this..If this government enforced healthcare is so good for the rest of us, why doesn&#039;t it cover all citizens? All the people, from the president right down to the lowest federal employee should also have to be enrolled. I have excellent health care coverage that I paid for with hard earned dollars and I want to keep it. Surely our elected officials have enough intelligence among them to fashion a plan that covers the uninsured without wrecking the system for the rest of us.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The one question I want answered is this..If this government enforced healthcare is so good for the rest of us, why doesn&#8217;t it cover all citizens? All the people, from the president right down to the lowest federal employee should also have to be enrolled. I have excellent health care coverage that I paid for with hard earned dollars and I want to keep it. Surely our elected officials have enough intelligence among them to fashion a plan that covers the uninsured without wrecking the system for the rest of us.</p>
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		<title>By: Wile E. Coyote</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4404</link>
		<dc:creator>Wile E. Coyote</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:47:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4404</guid>
		<description>TO THE ATTENTION OF: B.Johnson

Greetings my fellow American. I have read
your POST and found it highly compelling,
without being anything less than an honest
and genuine expression of your position on
the issue at hand.

Your commentary on the U.S. Constitution
particularly caught my attention, and I
wish to thank you for addressing a very
timely subject. It cannot be stressed
enough at this point in the history
of our great nation.

I feel like we adults share a common goal,
and in a public disagreement, that ended
in a vicious beating by four thugs vs. a
man at a Town Hall Meeting, ending in an
innocent American citizen sustaining some
egregious injuries for expressing his 1st.
Amendment right to speak his conservative
viewpoint, only to be silenced by liberal,
progressive, Union &quot;enforcers.&quot; Why it&#039;s
like a &#039;walk down memory lane&#039;...WOW! The
picture is so vivid - there they are....
Hitler&#039;s Gestapo kicking the crap out of
some individual for not speaking the Nazi
Party&#039;s version of National Healthcare
Reform. F.Y.I. ~ Eugenics belonged to
the United States first; that S.O.B.
stole it from us. That is &quot;chutzpa!&quot;

I can accept a despot, tyrant, or even a
&#039;full on&#039; clinically diagnosed narcissist
and homicidal psychopath. Afterall, when
you look around, they do seem to have a
popular niche that they have carved out
for themselves, but I digress...I will
never forgive Hitler for being a &quot;big
copy-cat.&quot; Oh well, you never know,
maybe down the road of reform, we
will get a second chance.

I would like to leave you with a quote from
one of my favorite American Patriots:

&quot;Information is the currency of a nation.&quot;

                -- Thomas Jefferson, 1783

Keep up the good work, remain vigilante,
and this too shall pass.

Regards,

Wile E.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TO THE ATTENTION OF: B.Johnson</p>
<p>Greetings my fellow American. I have read<br />
your POST and found it highly compelling,<br />
without being anything less than an honest<br />
and genuine expression of your position on<br />
the issue at hand.</p>
<p>Your commentary on the U.S. Constitution<br />
particularly caught my attention, and I<br />
wish to thank you for addressing a very<br />
timely subject. It cannot be stressed<br />
enough at this point in the history<br />
of our great nation.</p>
<p>I feel like we adults share a common goal,<br />
and in a public disagreement, that ended<br />
in a vicious beating by four thugs vs. a<br />
man at a Town Hall Meeting, ending in an<br />
innocent American citizen sustaining some<br />
egregious injuries for expressing his 1st.<br />
Amendment right to speak his conservative<br />
viewpoint, only to be silenced by liberal,<br />
progressive, Union &#8220;enforcers.&#8221; Why it&#8217;s<br />
like a &#8216;walk down memory lane&#8217;&#8230;WOW! The<br />
picture is so vivid &#8211; there they are&#8230;.<br />
Hitler&#8217;s Gestapo kicking the crap out of<br />
some individual for not speaking the Nazi<br />
Party&#8217;s version of National Healthcare<br />
Reform. F.Y.I. ~ Eugenics belonged to<br />
the United States first; that S.O.B.<br />
stole it from us. That is &#8220;chutzpa!&#8221;</p>
<p>I can accept a despot, tyrant, or even a<br />
&#8216;full on&#8217; clinically diagnosed narcissist<br />
and homicidal psychopath. Afterall, when<br />
you look around, they do seem to have a<br />
popular niche that they have carved out<br />
for themselves, but I digress&#8230;I will<br />
never forgive Hitler for being a &#8220;big<br />
copy-cat.&#8221; Oh well, you never know,<br />
maybe down the road of reform, we<br />
will get a second chance.</p>
<p>I would like to leave you with a quote from<br />
one of my favorite American Patriots:</p>
<p>&#8220;Information is the currency of a nation.&#8221;</p>
<p>                &#8212; Thomas Jefferson, 1783</p>
<p>Keep up the good work, remain vigilante,<br />
and this too shall pass.</p>
<p>Regards,</p>
<p>Wile E.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: B. Johnson</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4403</link>
		<dc:creator>B. Johnson</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:31:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4403</guid>
		<description>The main problem with the threat of Obamacare is not Socialist robot Obama and any disregard for free speech, IMO, but the vast number of US citizens who evidently don&#039;t know the Constitution and its history.  More specifically, given that the federal Constitution is silent about public healthcare, the 10th A. automatically reserves government power to regulate and lay taxes for healthcare to the states, not the Oval Office and Congress.  But citizens have evidently not been teaching the Constitution and its history to their children for many generations.  So as a consequence of their shameful ignorance of their own Constitution, particularly where state sovereignty is concerned, US citizens arguably DESERVE for misguided Obama to usurp state powers by forcing illegal federal Obamacare on them.

The following link is an analysis as to how citizens have foolishly shot themselves in the foot with big federal government tyranny.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=199792</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The main problem with the threat of Obamacare is not Socialist robot Obama and any disregard for free speech, IMO, but the vast number of US citizens who evidently don&#8217;t know the Constitution and its history.  More specifically, given that the federal Constitution is silent about public healthcare, the 10th A. automatically reserves government power to regulate and lay taxes for healthcare to the states, not the Oval Office and Congress.  But citizens have evidently not been teaching the Constitution and its history to their children for many generations.  So as a consequence of their shameful ignorance of their own Constitution, particularly where state sovereignty is concerned, US citizens arguably DESERVE for misguided Obama to usurp state powers by forcing illegal federal Obamacare on them.</p>
<p>The following link is an analysis as to how citizens have foolishly shot themselves in the foot with big federal government tyranny.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=199792" rel="nofollow">http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=199792</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Elaine</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4402</link>
		<dc:creator>Elaine</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:24:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4402</guid>
		<description>Heard about this?

Sen. Cornyn Sends Letter To President Obama About &quot;Fishy&quot; Activities Program At White House

Sen. Cornyn appeared on Fox News today to discuss his letter to President Obama regarding the collection of emails and other communications opposing the President&#039;s health care policies.  Click here to watch the interview.

In a letter to President Obama,  Sen. Cornyn expressed serious concern about the White House&#039;s new program requesting Americans to forward email chains and other communications opposing the President&#039;s health care policies. Sen. Cornyn is seeking assurances that the program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America&#039;s tradition of free speech and public discourse.

Sen. Cornyn&#039;s letter also inquires about the collection of names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens that will be reported, which raises the specter of a data collection program.

&quot;I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed â€˜fishy&#039; or otherwise inimical to the White House&#039;s political interests,&quot; Sen. Cornyn wrote. &quot;You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program.  As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.&quot;

--The full text of Sen. Cornyn&#039;s letter is below--

Dear President Obama,

I write to express my concern about a new White House program to monitor American citizens&#039; speech opposing your health care policies, and to seek your assurances that this program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America&#039;s tradition of free speech and public discourse.

Yesterday, in an official White House release entitled &quot;Facts are Stubborn Things,&quot; the White House Director of New Media, Macon Phillips, asserted that there was &quot;a lot of disinformation out there,&quot; and encouraged citizens to report &quot;fishy&quot; speech opposing your health care policies to the White House.  Phillips specifically targeted private, unpublished, even casual speech, writing that &quot;rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.&quot;  Phillips wrote &quot;If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.&quot;

I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed &quot;fishy&quot; or otherwise inimical to the White House&#039;s political interests.

By requesting that citizens send &quot;fishy&quot; emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House.  You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program.  As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.

I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House.  I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program-and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action.

So I urge you to cease this program immediately.  At the very least, I request that you detail to Congress and the public the protocols that your White House is following to purge the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in &quot;fishy&quot; speech.  And I respectfully request an answer to the following:

How do you intend to use the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in &quot;fishy&quot; speech?
How do you intend to notify citizens who have been reported for &quot;fishy&quot; speech?
What action do you intend to take against citizens who have been reported for engaging in &quot;fishy&quot; speech?
Do your own past statements qualify as &quot;disinformation&quot;? For example, is it &quot;disinformation&quot; to note that in 2003 you said:&quot;I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan&quot;?
I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Heard about this?</p>
<p>Sen. Cornyn Sends Letter To President Obama About &#8220;Fishy&#8221; Activities Program At White House</p>
<p>Sen. Cornyn appeared on Fox News today to discuss his letter to President Obama regarding the collection of emails and other communications opposing the President&#8217;s health care policies.  Click here to watch the interview.</p>
<p>In a letter to President Obama,  Sen. Cornyn expressed serious concern about the White House&#8217;s new program requesting Americans to forward email chains and other communications opposing the President&#8217;s health care policies. Sen. Cornyn is seeking assurances that the program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America&#8217;s tradition of free speech and public discourse.</p>
<p>Sen. Cornyn&#8217;s letter also inquires about the collection of names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens that will be reported, which raises the specter of a data collection program.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed â€˜fishy&#8217; or otherwise inimical to the White House&#8217;s political interests,&#8221; Sen. Cornyn wrote. &#8220;You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program.  As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8211;The full text of Sen. Cornyn&#8217;s letter is below&#8211;</p>
<p>Dear President Obama,</p>
<p>I write to express my concern about a new White House program to monitor American citizens&#8217; speech opposing your health care policies, and to seek your assurances that this program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America&#8217;s tradition of free speech and public discourse.</p>
<p>Yesterday, in an official White House release entitled &#8220;Facts are Stubborn Things,&#8221; the White House Director of New Media, Macon Phillips, asserted that there was &#8220;a lot of disinformation out there,&#8221; and encouraged citizens to report &#8220;fishy&#8221; speech opposing your health care policies to the White House.  Phillips specifically targeted private, unpublished, even casual speech, writing that &#8220;rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.&#8221;  Phillips wrote &#8220;If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to <a href="mailto:flag@whitehouse.gov">flag@whitehouse.gov</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed &#8220;fishy&#8221; or otherwise inimical to the White House&#8217;s political interests.</p>
<p>By requesting that citizens send &#8220;fishy&#8221; emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House.  You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program.  As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.</p>
<p>I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House.  I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program-and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action.</p>
<p>So I urge you to cease this program immediately.  At the very least, I request that you detail to Congress and the public the protocols that your White House is following to purge the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in &#8220;fishy&#8221; speech.  And I respectfully request an answer to the following:</p>
<p>How do you intend to use the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in &#8220;fishy&#8221; speech?<br />
How do you intend to notify citizens who have been reported for &#8220;fishy&#8221; speech?<br />
What action do you intend to take against citizens who have been reported for engaging in &#8220;fishy&#8221; speech?<br />
Do your own past statements qualify as &#8220;disinformation&#8221;? For example, is it &#8220;disinformation&#8221; to note that in 2003 you said:&#8221;I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan&#8221;?<br />
I look forward to your prompt response.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>JOHN CORNYN<br />
United States Senator</p>
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		<title>By: Thalpy</title>
		<link>http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/08/07/obama-sneers-at-the-first-amendment/#comment-4401</link>
		<dc:creator>Thalpy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:08:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsrealblog.com/?p=3902#comment-4401</guid>
		<description>These thugs are not the average adversary. They seem to be most unappreciative of the fact that Saul Alinsky can be used by them against our alleged oppressive system, or against them for their thuggish ways. Americans must never tolerate Obama&#039;s boot on our neck, because once he puts it there, he will never remove it.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>These thugs are not the average adversary. They seem to be most unappreciative of the fact that Saul Alinsky can be used by them against our alleged oppressive system, or against them for their thuggish ways. Americans must never tolerate Obama&#8217;s boot on our neck, because once he puts it there, he will never remove it.</p>
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