Animal Farm

The press now includes, but is not restricted to, news papers, books, television, movies, and the internet. But when most people think of the press they think news.

Freedom of the press is a mechanism in the Constitution to keep an eye on government because a government controlled press doesn’t serve its citizens, it only tells the people what the government wants them to hear. So isn’t a press that is in bed with government doing the same thing? WTF! Remember when the press was critical of President Bush? They were doing their job then. You only see one network giving any shit to the Bamster.

Shit about the government, written or spoken, was subject to punishment under English law. Fuck the truth; you were jailed or worse if you trash talked the rulers. The press belonged to the King.

James Madison’s concern was that authors wouldn’t write truth about government activities if the government could prosecute them afterwards. So when the Colonies threw off monarchy, the press adopted a role as partner the for truth, a free marketplace for ideas and opinions, without government control. This is the type of press our founding fathers wrote into the Constitution.

Freedom of the press applies to a single person’s right to publish ideas, and to the right of print and broadcast media to express political views and to cover and publish news. A free press is one of the foundations of a democratic society. You can see it’s importance; when antidemocratic forces take over a country, it’s first action, control the press. Look at Iran.

Newspapers are losing readership and will be in need of a bailout, because “the public needs to know the news”. Like the car companies and the banks, they will be government owned. Think News Czar.

NBC is owned by General Electric. GE is cozy with the Obama administration, with health care, smart grid, electric generators, and television already reaping their portion of TARP funds. Google it, Rose. GE could be to big to fail. I for one will not buy GE or watch MFNBC. You read right, MF-NBC because NBC is mother fuckin’.

ABC has been getting pretty close too, with the health care town hall in the Whitehouse next week. Obama jokes about being in bed with Brian Williams. Well, it’s no joke. The media has a love afair with Obama. That’s not the reason ‘freedom of the press’ is in the Constitution. The free press, while not controlled by the govermnent, is no longer the watchdog, but the lapdog of the Obama Administration, and that lapdog is humping the Bamsters leg.