Last night we talked about how Senate Democrats supported by the President changed the filibuster rules to limit the rights of the Senate Minority Party. And now a new domination move this time limiting the right of the people to get an independent view of President Obama while he's conducting official business. 38 of the nation's largest news organizations, including Fox News, have lodged an official complaint against the White House for instituting onerous new limitations on photo journalists covering President Obama.
Access to important executive branch functions is being shut off so that the White House can turn around and release its own official video or photos to journalists, kind of like producing it. Sounds like propaganda prod of style.
Fox News Ed Henry raised this at the White House briefing yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: -- or say that you're providing more access to the American people. You're shutting off independent journalists who want to cover those events and you're having people who work for the President actually cover the events. How is that independent? How is that more access for the American people?
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I think when I described that is that there are certain circumstances where it's not feasible for independent journalists to be covering the President. I think the best example of this would be in the Situation Room at the White House where when the President is talking about classified issues it's just not feasible for us to have those discussions about --
(CROSSTALK)
EARNEST: Well it's just no feasible for us to have independent journalists in the room.
HENRY: How is that disruptive to --
EARNEST: Let me finish my question, or my answer, which is, it's just not feasible in those circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now, to some extent every president tries to control his image. But if the press began to turn a more critical eye on Obama and his policies this past year, the White House has moved more aggressively to limit access and circumvent scrutiny. Call it Obama's iron curtain.
And let's also not forget, by the way, that the Obama Justice Department secretly seized those telephone records of our James Rosen and of the Associated Press. As the dean of the University of Maryland, Journalism School "You're only seeing what they want you to see." This is a far cry from what Barack Obama promised in his first day of office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me say it as simply as I can. Transparency and the rule of law will be the touch stones of this presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Right. Those of course were just words, like his promise that you'll be able to keep your old health insurance policy under Obamacare. It didn't happen.
But look on the bright side, the mainstream press is finally waking up even if it's four years too late. And that's "The Memo."
- You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.
