I thought Barack Obama was all about “hope” and “change” and leaving behind the old style of politics.
We learn now that the candidate of change has enlisted a team of Missouri county officials to intimidate TV station owners into not running anti-Obama ads. He is attempting to crush the constitutionally protected right to free speech by way of law enforcement intimidation. In another overt move to crush open debate, Obama supporters have flooded a Chicago NPR radio show in a concerted, well-organized effort to smear a conservative author that dared investigate Senator Obama’s community organizing past. The Obama campaign was invited to be a part of the program but declined, preferring a less sophisticated approach.
There is no rebutting or debating when the Obama folks jam the phone lines. They just read their threatening talking points and filibuster. Taken as a whole, these types of campaign tactics should be troubling for voters. It should come as no surprise to anyone when, should he be elected, Obama enacts radio’s Fairness Doctrine, which will force equal time for both right-wing and left-wing views–effectively killing the profitability of talk radio.
Maybe you don’t care about conservative talk radio but any government threat to the First Amendment and free political speech should be worrisome to anyone.
Stephen Poschmann is a member of the Bedford Republican Committee.