By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
In an effort to control the nation’s rising anger over the government’s outrageous health care reform, the White House has established a special e-mail address to be used by people surfing the Internet who come across “rumors” about the government’s proposed health care reform written by people who oppose the plan.
In an official government blog entitled, “Facts are Stubborn Things,” White House director of New Media, Macon Phillips writes: “Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to ‘uncover’ the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions. . .”
He uses the “rumor” that the president wants to eliminate private insurance coverage as an example, and refers people to a video created by Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, who rebuts the claim. Philips’ blog neglects to mention the 2003 video appearing on the Drudge Report in which Barack Obama speaks about his desire to eliminate private insurance coverage.
Phillips goes on to say that “there is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to 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.”
Outrage over this intended censorship is already flaring.
“I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House?s political interests,” wrote Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to President Obama.
“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,” he wrote.
Cornyn also asked how the White House would use the information collected and what actions, if any, would be taken against citizens linked to “fishy” claims.
“I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House,” Cornyn wrote, referring to former president George W. Bush.
“I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program — and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action,” he wrote.
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