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State Department Using Litmus Tests to Screen Speakers Email Print

By SusanG
12/02/2005 10:44:54 PM EST

Knight Ridder (God love `em) has an article today about how the State Department, in a program under the supervision of Karen Hughes, has been screening out Bush critics from representing the U.S. overseas in speaking engagements.

WASHINGTON - The State Department has been using political litmus tests to screen private American citizens before they can be sent overseas to represent the United States, weeding out critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to department officials and internal e-mails.

Several authors are mentioned as being screened out of the program, as well as Sen. Obama:

In thee case of Obama, after the request from Jakarta came in Jan. 12, political appointees in the International Information Programs bureau argued in e-mails that a Republican senator should be sent as well.

That's standard State Department practice when individuals go out to discuss American party politics. But the Jakarta U.S. Embassy had asked for him to speak about diversity, not politics.

Approval for department officials to contact Obama was delayed until June 13.

The senator's office said it was unaware of the controversy.

Most impressively, Knight-Ridder ties the political screenings in with the administration's staged town hall meetings, the planted propaganda in Iraq and other free speech violations. And then, interestingly, Knight-Ridder itself reports hitting a stonewall:

Late this week, after Knight Ridder inquired about the litmus tests, Alexander Feldman, the head of the department's International Information Programs bureau, which runs the speakers program, sent a memo to his employees warning that "no one is to speak to the press without following the procedures" and getting approval. Knight Ridder obtained a copy of the memo.

Please go read the article in full. It's everything journalism once was, and everything we need it to be now. We honestly need to find a way to save Knight Ridder.


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State Department Using Litmus Tests to Screen Speakers | 1 comment (1 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
It is all throughout this administration (none / 1)
It has been this way since about the second month of Bush's first term.  There were ominous censorship signs right from the beginning, which should really surprise/have surprised nobody.

Let me tell you an illustrative story in an area that you would think did not require such censorship control.  Since such censorship was present even here, you know it was ubiquitous throughout this evil administration.  In 2002, I was a dental public health officer/consultant with a state health department, and was attending our annual federal-state-academic dental public health meeting.  This is an important meeting for the federal experts and the state experts to exchange info on what was new, what was wrong, and what was right. Since the feds gave out much money to the states through Block Grants, it was especially important for the state and academic experts to hear from the feds.  Many of these feds were in these positions for many years, and in the past they would feel free to talk turkey about the truth.  Well about 2 weeks before this long scheduled meeting, the Bush administration decided that no federal employee could speak at a conference without first having their speech reviewed and okayed (censored) by PR types in each agency.  Can you imagine dental professional experts having to have a PR expert ask and change scientific and statistical proven data!  WHY????  Well since this policy was so new, none of the feds had time to get their speeches cleared by these bozo censors, so NONE OF THEM COULD SPEAK OFFICIALLY.  

What a bad and ominous sign, and this in such a selective and narrow area as dental health.  Imagine anything in reproductive health.  Well most of the Fed officers that I know that could leave, have left, but that negative brain-drain consequence is a matter for another discussion.  Censorship in such basically non-political areas is very damaging and wrong, and has consequences for actual people. Such consequences may not be apparent for many years after this evil administration is gone, but be sure things will be worse in a reality vacuum unless you believe God is watching and intervening without mankind's need to be involved!

by NG on 12/03/2005 01:43:48 PM EST

State Department Using Litmus Tests to Screen Speakers | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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