Think Again: 'Chilling' the Press
/The story is one as old as the political arena itself.
When one side feels it wields all the power, it loses a sense of
proportion and limits on its behavior. We've seen countless hints of
such likely abuses from the conservatives who rule the roost today,
from a purge of those who offered sensible advice before our current
misadventure in Iraq took place to an ill-fated attempt to give certain
congressional staffers the police-state like power to examine the tax
records of Americans at will. Together with this tendency to believe in
one's political invulnerability is the notion that power is no longer
accountable in the old-fashioned way; that the media are no longer to
be treated as a necessary protection of the people's right to know, but
rather as a nuisance to be neutered so that power may roll along
merrily and unhindered by too many uncomfortable questions. Disdain for
the fundamental functions of reporting and the accountability it
inspires has long been evident among many denizens of the Bush
administration. Of late it has also filtered down the state level as
well. We see it in Texas; we see it in New York; and most recently, we
see it next door to the nation's capitol in Maryland. [more]
- Maryland Republican Governor Sued Over Blocking Two Writers [more]
