This week a video of former President Barack Obama was released to social media, in which he celebrated “new forms of journalism,” but cautioned that “regulatory constraints” had to be placed upon it to protect the truth.
But in fact there’s nothing “new” about Obama’s “new forms of journalism” — especially given the manner in which he would want them controlled.
It was described in a classic work of science-fiction.
Obama said, “Part of what we’re going to have to do is to start experimenting with new forms of journalism — and how do we use social media in ways that reaffirm facts, separate facts from opinion. We want diversity of opinion; we don’t want diversity of facts.”
He made those remarks to historian Heather Cox Richardson on June 17 at the Connecticut Forum, but they weren’t widely distributed until they were posted Wednesday on X.
It soon went viral, racking up more than three million views.
“By the way,” Obama added, “it will require some government regulatory constraints.”
He later said that those constraints will have to be introduced “in a way that’s consistent with the First Amendment,” but there’s no way government can do this. Government, at any level, is restrained by the First Amendment from “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton wrote that “Notoriously corrupt leftist politician Barack Obama officially opposes the First Amendment and wants to jail and fine Americans in an ‘experiment’ with government regulation of journalism . . . “
It’s precisely what the late British novelist George Orwell warned us about when he imagined a society where the government had that power, and where “Big Brother” was everywhere, to make sure everyone walked the straight and narrow.
Orwell wrote in his 1949 dystopian novel “1984” that “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
And that’s exactly what the Democratic Party is asking us to do today — to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, making the wide publication of Obama’s comments a case of bad timing for Democrats.
As of today the federal government will have been shut down for 31 days, because the Senate has been unable to get the 60 votes required to close debate and vote on a continuing resolution (CR).
The CR asks for nothing new — only to keep government open at its current level of spending. Democrats insist on adding another $1.5 trillion to the national debt in order to cover additional items, including healthcare expenses for illegal aliens.
Democrats have been trying to push the notion that the shutdown is the work of Republicans, but even left-of-center publications and organizations aren’t buying it, according to George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley.
“‘The Washington Post’ has now joined unions in calling on Democrats to end the shutdown,” he wrote.
“The circle of support for Democratic leaders is continuing to contract as we lose billions due to this ill-conceived shutdown . . . “
Turley describes freedom of speech as “The Indispensable Right” in his latest book.
And Barack Obama wants government to infringe upon that “indispensable right” by becoming the final arbiter of distinguishing fact from fiction.
Orwell explained what life would be like in a “1984” world in that event.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.”
That’s a world where we can’t speak openly, where we can’t state an opinion, where we’re unable to engage in spirited debate, and where “Big Brother” tells news outlets what to report.
That’s Obama’s world; that’s the Democrats’ world.
That’s not the world the Founders created for Americans.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He’s also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz’s Reports — More Here.
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