Fox Pundit: Bring Back Office of Censorship

From http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=444


Fox Pundit: Bring Back Office of Censorship

Kurt Nimmo July 6 2006

Brian Kilmeade, Fox Ministry of Disinformation and Fear Mongering talking head, should make his way back to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he once sat in as anchor. He has no place on a news program—then again, considering the sort of “news” reported at Fox, he may be a perfect choice.

“On the June 29 broadcast of Fox News Radio’s Brian & The Judge, co-host Brian Kilmeade, who also co-hosts Fox News’ Fox & Friends, suggested that the U.S. government should ‘put up the Office of Censorship,’ in the wake of reports in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal detailing a Treasury Department program designed to monitor international financial transactions for terrorist activity,” reports Media Matters.
Kilmeade, however, was not alone.

“Similarly, during the June 29 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host E.D. Hill wondered if it would be appropriate for the U.S. government to create an ‘Office of Censorship.’ During an interview with Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) about The New York Times report, Hill asserted that such an office, previously established during World War II by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, could screen news reports to determine whether they ‘hurt the country’ or are of ‘news value.’ The New York Times has been singled out for criticism by numerous conservative media figures, including many on the Fox News Channel.”

On December 19, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, after provoking the Japanese through embargo into attacking Pearl Harbor as a cynical way to get America embroiled in Europe’s war (most Americans were opposed to U.S. involvement in the conflict), signed Executive Order 8985, establishing the Office of Censorship. “From December 19, 1941, until August 15, 1945, the Office of Censorship had the power to censor international communications at its ‘absolute discretion.’ With a staff of more than 10,000 censors, the office routinely examined mail, cables, newspapers, magazines, films, and radio broadcasts. Its operations constituted the most extensive government censorship of the media in U. S. history and one of the most vivid examples of the use of executive emergency powers,” explains Lexis Nexus. It is interesting to note the corporate media of the time was all for this egregious violation of the Constitution. Byron Price, government stenographer and office manager for the Associated Press, was appointed Director of Censorship. He did such a good job censoring the news he was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize and was later appointed to the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. Trashing the Constitution has its rewards.

“If it’s anything like the rest of these highly politicized bureaucracies, we’re looking at some drooling lapdogs wanting to move this in the direction of emulating Chinese dissent laws,” comments the Hammer of Truth blog about Fox’s draconian suggestion. “I can see guarding information that is critical to the role of troops in the field, but I don’t buy the notion that because some media outlets are shining light on some questionably secret programs, we have to vet news through the military to comply with arbitrary patriotic standards.”
“We were stunned Thursday when Fox News commentators suggested a U.S. ‘Office of Censorship’ that would screen news reports and stop publication of news it didn’t find newsworthy or that it felt would hurt the country,” opines the Arizona Daily Star. “In addition to being an affront to the First Amendment and our nation’s freedom, ignoring or disrespecting views that might conflict with yours does not foster democracy.”


Beyond the usual blogosphere activity and a smattering of stories appearing in out of the way venues in the alternative and corporate media, this story grew very small legs and is seemingly going nowhere, mostly because the corporate media already censors (or omits) the news, albeit not to the fanatical degree demanded by the neocons at Fox. Wayne Simmons, a former CIA operative appearing on Hannity & Colmes, believes journos guilty of committing “treasonous crimes that are benefiting the enemy” should be marched “in front of a firing squad or put … in prison for the rest of their lives.” In other words, if you whistle blow on-high crimes and document programs designed to trash the Bill of Rights and reduce the Constitution to a doormat, you should be summarily executed. Smells like fascism to me.
“We’re at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm,” bemoaned the unitary decider last month. In other words, the neocons prefer to torch the Constitution under a tight cover of darkness, one that would be ensured by a Ministry of Censorship, complete with a firing squad, if former CIA employees and Fox pundits have their way.


“Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, said that the measures had proved their worth by helping to catch the mastermind of the Bali bombing as well as possibly ‘tracking down some of those who have been responsible in planning the subway bombings and the bus bombings in London,’” the Times Online reports. Of course, the Indonesian intel op Jemaah Islamiyah was framed for the Bali bombing and the London bombing was “masterminded” by Haroon Rashid Aswat, a well-documented MI6 asset (this fact was reported on Fox News, but then we can’t expect Mr. Snow Job to reference news reports broadcast by his former employer).
Finally, it should not be surprising Brian Kilmeade would advocate trashing the Bill of Rights and thus attempt to prevent through a Ministry of Censorship the American people from understanding the depth and severity of the fascist mindset of the neocons. After all, he was an anchor for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an organization based upon a version of Brazilian vale tudo fighting. In Portuguese, vale tudo translates as “anything goes,” a perfect phrase for the neocons and their sycophants over at the Ministry of Lies and Disinformation, Fox News division.