"quietly claimed sweeping new powers"

In case you missed it, the US government claims it now has the legal authority to open citizens' mail without a search warrant. And indeed, if you live in the United States, you easily might have missed this ominous news, because most major news outlets ignored it.

ABC, CBS, CNN largely ignored Bush's claim of power to search mail

Summary: While NBC has aired a segment on President Bush's "signing statement" on a postal reform bill that "quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant," ABC, CBS, and CNN have largely ignored the story, and ABC reported that Bush "acquired new powers" and suggested that they were "included" the bill.

On January 4, the New York Daily News reported that on December 20, President Bush attached a "signing statement" to a postal reform bill that "quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant." According to the Daily News: "That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it." ABC, CBS, and CNN have largely ignored the story, however, and ABC's Good Morning America reported that Bush "acquired new powers" and suggested that they were "included" the bill.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Bush's unprecedented use of "signing statements" -- through which Bush, according to Boston Globe staff writer Charlie Savage, has "quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office" -- has been largely ignored by the media. (More here.)

I know many wmtc readers feel I am too easy on average Americans, not crediting them with enough responsibility for the sorry state their country is in, blaming too much of their ignorance on the media. After many discussions, I've seen that I was being too forgiving, and I've acquired a more balanced view.

However, if major media outlets don't report accurately - or at all - on important changes such as this, I don't think the average person, who doesn't have the luxury (or perhaps the desire) to sit in front of the computer trolling for news, could be properly informed. They ought to be able to turn on their TV sets and learn what's going on.

If this earlier post was categorized under creeping theocracy, file this one under creeping fascism.