Sens. Feinstein and Schumer are planning to lead a federal blog-burning via a "media shield bill" which has just passed committee. Sen. Schumer is actually stating that the goal is to "[balance] the need for national security with that of a free press".
Currently shield laws exist at the state level as a means of protecting journalists legally per journalism's duty to report information to the general public. However, this federal non-"shield law" subjects every non-Mainstream Media 1.0 outlet to the mercy of Attorney General Eric Holder. Anything which Eric Hitler does not like can be shut down on demand.
The original language of the bill only applied to individuals who work for a company. Complaints by Matt Drudge led to an exemption in the event that primary sources are not released "without authorization". In other words, all media in America will be forced to be biased in some way, and there will be no way to prove who is right.
When we were in school writing our papers, we learned that we should always rely on primary sources rather than secondary ones. No more. Obama's nationwide "Common Core" will eliminate "the book report" and "the current events essay" as we know it, fulfilling the Marxist dream of direct management of all schools by a centralized Department of Education. This falls in line perfectly with the "memo" model of journalism most often associated with Fox News - direct management of information itself by the federal government.
Why do powerful people support control of information and suppression of information they do not like? The truth is, they do not. Censorship is not rooted in control, it is rooted in fear. Whether it be the MAFIAA's fear of an over-saturated deflationary free market in entertainment, the Surveillance State's fear of being caught in heinous criminal activity against their own citizens a la Saddam Hussein, or the neocon/liberal fear of small-government politicians and a pro-liberty press, censorship is based entirely on fear. Even the Religious Right's argument for censoring sex, violence, and the seven dirty words is based on the fear that their children will grow into immorality.
And the establishment should fear. The book-burning dictators of the 20th century did not outlast liberty, and neither will the blog-burning dictators of the 21st. All tyrannical governments ultimately destroy themselves, and liberty is again restored. Information may be suppressed, but information cannot be shut down, and will not be shut down. Tyranny is temporary. The only way is liberty.
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