Treasury Department vs 1st Amendment

[MTAtech]

If this isn't a violation of freedom of the press, the term has no meaning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/28/national/28PUBL.html?
February 28, 2004
Treasury Department Is Warning Publishers of the Perils of Criminal Editing of the Enemy
By ADAM LIPTAK

Writers often grumble about the criminal things editors do to their prose. The federal government has recently weighed in on the same issue — literally.

It has warned publishers they may face grave legal consequences for editing manuscripts from Iran and other disfavored nations, on the ground that such tinkering amounts to trading with the enemy.

Anyone who publishes material from a country under a trade embargo is forbidden to reorder paragraphs or sentences, correct syntax or grammar, or replace "inappropriate words," according to several advisory letters from the Treasury Department in recent months.


Full Story

[Pexster]

I guess I should be shocked, but I'm not. Dismayed, yes -- but not shocked. I'd sure love to hear the official rationale for this bizarre interpretation.

[MTAtech]

I'm afraid of what else there is to come. Should Bush get re-elected what is to stop him from suspending other constitutional freedoms?

[J-Excel]

You should see a psychiatrist MTAtech. Your paranoia is getting worse. It's a big stretch relating this story to any reason for voting one way or another in the next election.



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[whitebeard21]

J that is right on target and an admirable post I am sure you will print that out and hang it on the wall.

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[Pexster]

J-E, I don't see that it's a stretch at all. This appears to be a continuation of the "if you disagree with us, you're with the terorists" attitude of the present administration. They may well view re-election as a mandate and seal-of-approval for these types of policies and tactics.

[MTAtech]

I took the suggestion and discussed this with a psychiatrist and he said two words,'cognitive dissonance'. In the article there is a quote from Kenneth R. Foster, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, [who] said the government had grown insistent on the editing ban. "Since 9/11 and since the Bush administration took office," he said, "the Treasury Department has been ramping up enforcement."

Mr. Bush's supporters rationalizing that the Treasury Dept's actions are disassociated from President Bush's administration and that interfering with how publishers perform their craft is not a violation of civil freedoms or that they are a violation of civil freedoms but have nothing to do with Mr. Bush's governance, suggested a classic case of cognitive dissonance.

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MTAtech, do not mock other members or respond in kind to messages percieved as inflammatory. The moderators are not always available to correct reported posts immediately. After reporting a post, please resist the urge to retaliate and allow the staff to handle the situation.

[no1_vern]

Isnt the critical phrase

"forbidden to reorder paragraphs or sentences, correct syntax or grammar, or replace "inappropriate words,"

??

The way I read it the editors may deliberatly change the wording to mean something else entirely.


If I say " I think Bush is great, but I also think he has some problems." , And some editor "quotes" me as saying "I think Bush has some problems" that is a completely different from my meaning.

Nifty illiteration is good but telling the truth is better.

[RADAR1797]

No1_vern,

It takes away people's ability to spin a quote. We wouldn't want that would we? Now on the other hand, they can still accurately post the quote and spin the meaning.

-RADAR

[J-Excel]

There aren't enough issues to attack Bush on, so the left needs to escalate non-issues. So, if the press isn't free to say whatever they want, true or not, distorted or not, then the next step is that Bush's SS will come to our homes and duct-tape our mouths shut.