Freedom of the Press Under Fire

"The First Amendment right of a free press should not be absolute when it comes to national security," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to cnn.com. So we have to take it in good faith that what is being kept under wraps as classified and secret information is actually what they tell us it's about. I am expected to take the word of an administration I don't trust that their "database of every call made in the U. S." is not being used for some nefarious purpose other than the narrowest "we look at a terrorist's cell phone calls and extrapolate his cronies."

I would like to remind everyone that this database could easily be used to track electoral trends. It can be used to monitor the effectiveness of propaganda. We are supposed to take in good faith that they are not listening to our conversations. Now the press is going to be prosecuted for telling Americans about the inner workings of their government. All this in the interest of National Security. Who knows what's hiding behind the stamps of "classified." If this administration were transparent, and wasn't so quick to say "sorry, can't tell you about how we spent $250 billion. National security," then there would be no need for all this brouhaha.

During the Watergate scandal, which ended with his resignation, Richard Nixon cited executive privledge in supressing Oval Office tapes that would bring him down in the end. What guarantee do the people have that those red stamps are not protecting information that would prove foul play? I don't trust this administration as far as Dick Cheney can shoot an old man in the face, and that's close range.