Whether or not you are for health care reform, this letter to the White House is a reminder to them about people's freedom of speech. Please read below.Subject: Big Brother PROWLDate: Thursday, August 6, 2009, 3:30 PMDear Puma PAC,Stand up to the White House's menacingly misguided attempt to monitor the free speech of American citizens.From ABC’s The Note:“Yesterday, White House director of new media Macon Phillips wrote a blog post urging readers to flag questionable claims about health care proposals."As Republican Senator John Cornyn wrote in an email to the president urging him to end the Big Brother program,"By requesting that citizens send “fishy” 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.”Read more here:http://pumapac.org/2009/08/06/ the-first-amendment/This program is menacing and wrong, and it calls for action.Please send an email to the White House instructing them to brush up on their Constitution.Thank you and Good Luck,Murphy.* * * * * TODAY’S PROWL * * * * *1. Send an email to Macon Phillips, aka Minister of Information, atflag@whitehouse.gov2. Copy these emails into the BCC of your email: prowl@pumapac.org,hardball@msnbc.com, caffertyfile@cnn.com, comments@mclaughlin.com,Cavuto@foxnews.com,LouDobbs@cnn.com, hemmer@foxnews.com,headlinenews@cnn.com, Hannity@foxnews.com, gretawire@fox.com,charlierose@pbs.org3. Encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to send an email.Use this email, or edit it as you see fit. Be sure to include the text of the First Amendment in your email. Short, sweet, and to the point.Dear White House Minister of Information,I am writing as a very concerned American citizen. I am also a member of Puma PAC, People United Means Action (http://pumapac.org). After reading about your program encouraging Americans to report instances of “fishy” speech by their sister and fellow Americans, we realized you had perhaps forgotten to read this before you got to the White House:The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.Please brush up on the United States Constitution. It’s a rather important document, and it is especially crucial that people in your line of work are familiar with it.Sincerely,Your Name and StatePuma PAC Member .............................. .............................. .....PumaPac.org www.pumapac.org
August 05, 2009 Citizen Informants By Bart Willruth
In 1930's Germany, the new socialist government of Adolf Hitler (NAZI National Socialist Workers' Party) began indoctrinating children in the quasi-military organization, the Hitler Youth, to inform on their parents should they overhear discussions subversive to the policies of the Leader.
As the noose was tightened, local community organizers were appointed to watch their neighbors and were told to report subversive comments to the bureaucrats above them. Neighbors informed on neighbors, some for reasons of patriotism or loyalty, some from fear. A modern inquisition ensued; a terror to free thought and expression. Increasingly harsh penalties were meted out to those who dared to dissent. The socialist governments of the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy, N. Korea, Cuba, Yugoslavia, and the People's Republic of Chinaemployed the same citizen informer techniques. Citizens of those societies were reduced to either silence or whispered discussion only among those they trusted the most. Of course none of those things would ever occur here in the land of the free. But wait... Now on the White House website posted by Macon Phillips comes an eerily similar request for citizens to inform on their neighbors. It states, "There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to the end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." Read this again carefully. The government of the United States is openly asking citizens to report rumors, the contents of casual conversation, and the contents of emails. They decry the fact that they are unable to "keep track" of the communication between citizens effectively and are asking for help from informers. Of course forwarded emails would contain the electronic addresses of the sender.
Does this sound like the country you know (knew)? Are these the words of people who think of themselves as public servants, or is this something darker? Does a constitutional government tasked with protecting the rights of its citizens ask them to inform on each other to the White House? BW
Two other comments:
From RB: WOW. That link to the white house blog is incredible.
According to Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, only people with ulterior motives and time on their hands spend time discussing this through the Internet.
I guess in America today you cannot have a difference of opinion or a different philosophy than the people in government. What arrogance !!! RB
From T:
Sounds like Hitler Youth and Brownshirts to me.
-- Edited by Destiny on Saturday 8th of August 2009 05:39:32 PM
-- Edited by Hillarysmygirl16 on Saturday 8th of August 2009 05:44:06 PM
I think we need a massive "I'm turning myself In!" march on Washington over this one. Too many people on both sides oppose him and rightly so. Let's just go turn ourselves in and not leave the mall on Washington until we force this b.s.er's hand. What's he gonna do with all of us? Screw him, that would make him have to play his hand for all to see.
The Dems are really scaring people and when people are afraid of you rthey are not going to vote for your party. This is going to bite the Dems in the butt.