Dear Conservative,

Does our media even have a backbone anymore? Do they work on behalf of the people, trying to hold the Obama administration accountable, or are they just puppets for an overreaching White House?

Something really interesting has been happening on the Russian government-run news channels. In opposition to Russian's invasion of Ukraine, reporters at Russian Times News have been resigning on-air and denouncing their government's/employer's actions in Crimea. Granted, only a few reporters and anchors have publicly resigned, but it is definitely a sight for sore eyes here in America where the news media hangs on Obama's every word.

We have seen exactly the opposite here in the United States. We have seen the White House intimidate news organizations, revoke press passes, punish news organizations by refusing to answer questions, and limit their press access.

Anyone with an ounce of courage would stand up and refuse to give into Obama's intimidation and extortion. But, a few Conservative news outlets notwithstanding, the White House has the vast majority of news organizations eating out of its hand!

Congress must stop the Obama administration from intimidating, extorting, and censoring the media!

Zaid Jilani, a writer for the liberal think-tank Center for America Progress, recently revealed how intrusive the Obama administration is when it comes to controlling the media. Even the liberal media outlets, like ThinkProgress, were threatened when they became critical of Obama.

Despite the fact that Obama campaigned on a promise to end the War in Afghanistan, he did exactly the opposite when he came into office. This infuriated liberal writers like Zaid Jilani, and whenever he would criticize the Obama administration's escalation in Afghanistan, the White House would start threatening his bosses. The Obama administration would routinely force like-minded news organizations to push their writers in a particular direction and punish them if they ever strayed from the party line!

You would expect this type of intimidation in China or Russia, but not in the United States. The fact is that there is no such thing as a "free press" anymore. What we have are partisan news organizations that are afraid to challenge the powers that be! When was the last time you saw Fox News criticize the Republican establishment? When was the last time that MSNBC was critical of Barack Hussein Obama?

The press is supposed to be the fourth branch of government. When all other checks and balances fail, the fourth branch is all that is left to hold government accountable! However, the lap-dog media is too afraid to bite the hand that feeds it. No one is critical of the administration anymore because they are afraid. They are afraid that they will be targeted by the FCC, have monitors placed in their news rooms, or have their press credentials ignored or cancelled all together!

If you refuse to obey the Obama administration and agree to publish favorable stories, you won't get anywhere in Washington, D.C. The White House has perfected how to control the narrative, and it has taken a line right out of George Orwell's book, 1984. The Obama administration is so afraid of being portrayed in a bad light that for most White House events, the premises are closed to media photographers.

Congress must stop the Obama administration from intimidating, extorting, and censoring the media!

Now, I know what you're saying... "How can that be true if there are still pictures taken at the events?"

Instead of allowing the press to cover these events, the White House uses its own photographers and writing staff to cover "closed" events. 

Everything that you see is staged and pre-packaged propaganda. There are no candid shots of Obama, nothing to show him stressed or aggravated. All photos from these closed events are vetted to make sure the paint the President as a strong leader.

This past week, the Obamas hosted another high-price, swanky White House party. The party was in honor of Soul Music, and when the President went to introduce singer Aretha Franklin, he made a pretty stupid gaffe:

"When Aretha first told us what R-S-P-E-C-T meant to her," Obama remarked, not realizing he had just misspelled the word 'respect.' As the audience laughed, Obama went on as if nothing had happened.

Now, this is really not a big deal. So what if he misspelled the word 'respect'... So what if he went on without calling attention to his mistakes... 

But do you know what the White House did? Rather than laugh off the mistake, the White House has scrubbed the transcript to remove any mention of the President's gaffe. When future generations look at the transcript of the event, they won't see the truth. They will see a transcript that was white washed to remove any evidence of the President's mistake!

In the grand scheme of things, this one edit might not seem important. But it is indicative of a much larger problem! The White House is controlling the media and what information is available to the public to the point that they are actually writing and rewriting history themselves!

The Constitution is clear when it says that the government shall make no law to stifle the freedom of the press. Yet, that is exactly what Obama is doing! He is controlling the press in an attempt to limit your access to the truth! Congress must stop this imperial President before it is too late!

Congress must stop the Obama administration from intimidating, extorting, and censoring the media!

Sincerely,

Joe Otto

Conservative Daily