When Hitler was in power there were two cornerstones that he relied on to retain that power. One of them was the Gestapo; the Third Reich’s infamous secret police force. The other was a public that would turn in to the Gestapo those who opposed Hitler and his policies. Had the public failed to cooperate, the Nazi’s would have found it far more difficult to retain power, and the Gestapo itself would have been far less effective. Now, the Obama administration is asking American’s to turn in those who are spreading “disinformation” about healthcare reform. In fact, the official
White House website has a paragraph that now reads, “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.” Not only is this totalitarian request frightening, it is also a violation of federal law.
What the Obama administration is apparently concerned about are “rumors” about healthcare reform that it claims are not true. Rumors like the one that is being spread by the Congressional Budget Office that claims the plans currently being considered will increase the national deficit. Or those being spread by the White House staff itself when they say you shouldn’t take the President “literally” when he says everyone will be able to keep their existing health insurance if they like it.
They are concerned about the rumor that the President plans to tax employer provided healthcare – something members of congress and the administration have openly said may be necessary. Or that the government will attempt to control costs by rationing care – something which has happened in every other single payer system in the western world (just look at Canada and the United Kingdom). Or that the government will have final say over the type and amount of treatment you are qualified for – something which is spelled out in the bill.
The White House website specifically complains that among the misinformation is a plan to “look like the President intends to "eliminate" private coverage, when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.” But this White House claim contradicts both the House version of the bill (see page 16 of the bill which would make it illegal for insurance companies to sell private policies after the bill becomes law) and the President’s own words. He has specifically stated in a no rather famous video that he is an advocate of a government run single payer plan. That translates into a system of government run healthcare that provides consumers with no choice. The fact that the current versions of the bill don’t implement a single-payer system has little to do with the President’s intent. He has clearly stated that this is what he wants. That means that the claim above is a lie.
So, in order to control these “rumors” the White House wants you to collect the names and e-mail addresses of people that may be spreading them. Their website even mentions that these “rumors” can be spread in “casual conversation” – which appears to translate into a request for you to turn in anyone (friends, family or otherwise) who may be so politically incorrect that they would openly oppose the President’s plan. NOTE: you may want to forward the White House the URL of this post.
There are just a couple of problems with this White House plan. The first is that it is downright un-American. This country was built on open political debate. The fact that the President does not like the fact that citizens are turning against his plan is a legitimate result of that debate. And the fact that the White House is so afraid of public opinion that it is willing to try and stifle it through intimidation should scare every red blooded American. That brings us to the second problem.
Using intimidation to stifle free speech is unconstitutional – something which the Supreme Court ruled on directly during the Nixon administration. Then, the administration started collecting the names of people who were opposed to the Vietnam War and started to spy on them as a method of intimidation. What Obama is doing is nearly identical, but they are not the only laws being broken.
In addition to the case law above, the National Archives requires that all communications with the White House be preserved. But the White House is saying that it will not collect or keep the names of people who oppose healthcare reform (apparently we are to believe that they only want their e-mail address; which are of course so anonymous). If that is the case, they would be breaking the law. They have a legal obligation to keep this information once they receive it. And now, for the Catch 22.
But of course, if they keep the information they receive and establish a database, they will also be breaking federal law. That’s because the Privacy Act makes it illegal for the federal government to establish secret databases on Americans. While there are some very large loopholes in the law – called “routine uses” – these have to be published in the Federal Register and the public has a right to comment on them before they are implemented. The Obama administration has not done this, so any information they are currently in possession of, they are holding illegally. Furthermore, there is absolutely nothing “routine” about gathering information on people who are politically opposed to the President.
This is the sort of thing that happens in banana republics. It is how dictators come to power and citizens are subjugated. It is the kind of tyranny that the founders warned us about and tried to prevent. It is something that we as Americans cannot let stand. Any government that attempts to coerce its citizens by intimidation is not representative of those citizens forfeits any claims to legitimacy.
