Remember during the Bush years how all of those writers, celebrities, and whatnot constantly, publicly, never-endingly screamed about how W and his evil minions were killing free speech? Remember? You must, because they said it almost every day in news conferences, on talk shows, in press releases, in interviews, in movies, during concerts, and so on.
Well, read this article here. It talks about Obama's moves to limit lobbying for stimulus moolah. Boring. But hey, wait a minute, isn't something there fishy about this? The Washington Examiner thought so, and when they reviewed comments regarding lobbying restrictions on the White House's website, they found this doozy of a comment:
For the first time, we will reach contacts not only by registered lobbyists but also by unregistered ones, as well as anyone else exerting influence on the process. We concluded this was necessary under the unique circumstances of the stimulus program.
Why is this important? The Washington Examiner thinks it's important because . . .
This is the Camel's nose under the tent, being poked because of special circumstances. Let government restrict political expression - i.e. lobbying of government officials regarding policy - in one small, supposedly specialized area and not long after the specialized area starts expanding. Eventually, all political expression regarding all policy will become subject to government regulation.
So, is the government now openly suggesting it can restrict free speech? Free speech is pretty important. It will be interesting to hear the White House explain this one away. And I am sure that Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, and all the rest who fought so nobly for free speech under W's regime will be speaking out against this any day. Right?
Right?
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