I just read Trymaine Lee\’s article at MSNBC\’s web site about the upcoming town hall meetings in Ferguson, Missouri, which I am excerpting below.
See if you find it as utterly ridiculous as I do:
To keep peace in Ferguson, DOJ bars media from town hall meetings
Cityleaders in Ferguson, Missouri, have billed a series of upcoming townhall meetings beginning Monday night as a way to continue dialoguewith members of the beleaguered community and an opportunity to clearup misconceptions still swirling a month after Ferguson police shotand killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
Ina statement that went out late last week, Mayor James Knowles saidthat he wanted use the meetings as a way to assure people that thecity was operating with full transparency.
Knowlessaid that he wanted residents of Ferguson to “know exactly where westand on things with full transparency.” To keep peace in Ferguson, DOJ bars media from town hall meetings
Butat some point between then and now, the CommunityRelations Service, a little-known agency within theDepartment of Justice that is working behind the scenes to coolracial tensions in the city, stepped in and closed off the meetingsto the media and non-residents.
“Theidea about no media came from the Department of Justice – not thecity,” Devin James, a spokesman for the city told msnbc on Monday.”I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that they believethat the presence of media hinders and disrupts the conversation sothat it is no longer productive and does not fulfill the purpose forwhich it was intended.”
Jameswent on to write in an email that “I do not know what the DOJrepresentatives will do or say to you if you show up.”
If this weren\’t the Obama administration, and Attorney General eric holder\’s Department of Just-Us, I would not believe it.
But it is, so I do.
Does anyone believe that censoring these “public” town hall meetings by disallowing the press from attending, is being done to prevent hindering and disrupting? Even if you did believe that absolute BS, the solution would be to disallow any questions from the media, not to bar them from entering the premises.
Does anyone believe that there is a reason for this other than the fact that the DOJ – and its ultimate boss at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – do not want the press to report what will be said in these meetings?
What are they afraid of? That media might hear – and possibly report about – the ad hominem comments some residents are likely to be making? Are they afraid such comments might change the narrative? Cast the Michael Brown/Darren Wilson situation in a different light than the one Obama, holder & Co. prefer?
What other reason could there be?
Over in Russia, Vladimir Putin must be smiling at this, thinking “Way to go, Obama administration. Just like the good old USSR days, when me and my KGB buddies did this kind of stuff all the time”.
Back here, by contrast, people like me (and, I hope, you) may not be smiling. They may be saying “Isn\’t this what we fought wars to prevent from happening?”.
And if Obama\’s Accomplice Media are not screaming bloody murder to their readers/viewers/listeners about this USSR-like tactic, specifically designed to silence them, they are beyond all hope.
Keep your fingers crossed that an audio tape of the goings-on is somehow created (I\’m betting the Department of Just-Us is going to try to prevent any from being made – even though taping the proceedings would not “hinder” or “disrupt” anything).
And, if they do, let\’s hope media collectively grow a conscience and make it available – along with a full transcript.
