Message from wrodriguez

[Anonymous]

Response to rboller comment on 6/1/06.

I totally agree with your comments regarding the role of the press in a working democracy. Indeed, a vigilant press can act as another check on the powers of various branches of the US government.

What is rather disconcerting is the extent to which our current administration has gone to limit access to what is not only happening in Iraq but also to gain information on what is occurring to fight the threat of terrorism. And it is always the same rhetoric that is used to justify the restrictions on the access to information, namely that it American citizens cannot have a complete picture because national security will be jeopardized.

There is a long a record of past administrations doing the same thing. Perhaps the most infamous example is President Nixon’s attempts to shut down congressional investigations on the Watergate break-in based on the pretext that it would jeopardize US national security.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the how the American press has given a pass on the current administration’s handling of the war on terror and Iraq in particular. For example, the recent issue regarding random/court unapproved phone tapping has received a lot of media attention but much of it has been critical of those that actually are questioning whether this should be happening. There have been various news anchors/pundits on cable channels basically saying that if we don’t allow the Bush administration to engage in this type of activity then we have no one to blame but ourselves of another terrorism attack occurs.