I have been making an effort to focus on and post primarily photography, music, poetry and the like lately. However, I read an article by Macon Phillips on the White House blog (Ironically titled "Facts are Stubborn Things") on Tuesday and have been stewing over it since. Macon is the White House Director of New Media.
(Photo:Zbigniew Bzdak/McClatchy News)
"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."
Silly me. I had no idea it was the White House's responsibility to track all opposition to their programs. What if it is something other than fearing corporate health care designed by those we accuse of destroying the current system? Are there other addresses for other offenses? What if I disagree with bombing a country that our Congress and Senate never authorized? What if I ask about the destruction of the product life cycle? How many dissenters are being tracked? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Since people opposing this plan are "spreading disinformation", we should turn them into the White House staff? Macon and his buddies can't keep up with everyone who is opposing it, so we need you to report your friends, relatives and neighbors to the White House so that we can knock down any dissent. The "New Media" policy appears to be to turn in fellow citizens who have dissenting political opinions from the White House.
Debates about health care, finance, defense, security and privacy will continue to rage. I just hope that our leaders find a way to participate in the discussion without spying on constituents or asking them to turn each other in for their beliefs. (My civics teacher in high school had called Russia's (1980s) government tyrannical and overreaching for instituting such policies.)
