My take on: President Obama's "Public" Town Hall

What the media won't report about President Obama...

On July 1st, President Obama held a town hall meeting with an audience in Annandale, VA to discuss his proposed health care reform. What he didn't discuss, and what the media won't tell you, is that the whole thing was choreographed. Whether it is because Obama can't handle tough questions, or because he knows how utterly ridiculous his proposal for a new health care system is, he had each member of the audience screened before they were allowed to attend. Additionally, every single question asked was hand-picked by the White House. The AP reported: “Some of Obama’s questioners Wednesday were from friendly sources, including a member of the Service Employees International Union and a member of Health Care for America Now, which organized a Capitol Hill rally last week calling for an overhaul" (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_forum).

Unfortunately for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, some members of the media finally decided to pay attention. Even some of the most liberal correspondents grilled Gibbs about the incredible lack of transparency that has become a serious (though not publicized) problem for the Obama administration. Helen Thomas, not known as a "conservative sympathizer," said this to Gibbs: "It’s blatant ... They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.” She added: “What the h-ll do they think we are, puppets?” (http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445)

The amount of control our government has over the media has never been seen before, and it is despicable that more people aren't speaking out against it. In "An Inconvenient Book," by Glenn Beck, it says, "Some people consider the media to be our fourth branch of government." But what happens when the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government aren't using their checks and balances appropriately, and the so-called "fourth branch of government" just falls in line with the rest? This results in a seriously misinformed public and can lead to a massive unchecked growth of government, as America is undoubtedly seeing right now. President Obama promised to "change" the lack of transparency in Washington, and he did. He made it worse than ever. His honesty, along with his administration's opaqueness is shocking, and the liberal media is doing nothing to stop it.

I have bad news for you, Mr. President: We are not all puppets. The American people can still use common sense to see what you are doing, even when you're controlling the media with strings. Get all the adoration of the media while you still can... Because you can bet, that in about three years, the only thing people will remember about you is how you almost destroyed capitalism, not to mention the greatest country in the world.

Sources:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-will-filter-questions-for-Virginia-town-hall-7906507-49550207.html
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/02/morning-bell-obamas-choreographed-town-hall/

ARC