The Founding Fathers knew that a free nation would only remain free if there was freedom of speech, especially as exercised by the news media. The First Amendment reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The “press” prided itself in being the “Fourth Estate”—that non-governmental branch of the nation holding the government accountable, the watchdog of the people. The watchdog of the people has become a lapdog of the government, but that has changed in recent years.

The cozy relationship between the news media and the socialist left has enjoyed a long honeymoon since those nasty capitalist pigs were brought down by the Watergate burglaries, causing the resignation of President Richard Nixon. For decades the news media became more leftist, increasingly biased, and far more supportive of big government and dismissive of conservative constitutionalism.

The lesson they should be learning is that government cannot be trusted and that it is healthy to have an adversarial relationship with politicians and government. Notwithstanding, the “president” himself called the news media a ‘partner” of his in his recent press banquet speech.

Remember that the Treasury Department’s IRS, the nation’s foremost totalitarian agency, where a person has to prove his innocence once accused, targeted and harassed those who espoused the founding principles of the nation. Moreover, the IRS lied to Congress in March 2012 denying that it was targeting TEA Party and Patriot groups.

Add to this a concerted effort by this government to disarm Americans, partner with America’s enemies The Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda in its foreign policy endeavors, and artificially supporting the marketplace with tax dollars. Add them all up and you have a totalitarian state progressing at a fast pace.

Those who think that it’s just okay to allow this country to fall and we will just worship our Lord anyway with whatever comes with it, ought to study what is going on with Christians in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It is not merely having the IRS knocking at your door asking why your itemized deductions don’t add up. We have an Isaiah 59:3 government:

“For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue has muttered perverseness.”

We as Christians and as Americans should not be an Isaiah 59:4-14 people:

“Non call for justice, nor any plead for truth … for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.”

If we tolerate totalitarianism, we shall have it.

Have a blessed and powerful day!

Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com

At the risk of offending some who attended public school and enlighten others, there are three branches of government in the United States; Executive (President), Legislative (Congress), and Judicial (Supreme Court). As a journalism student at Ohio State University, we were often told of the fourth branch of government.

It is an unofficial branch, called the Fourth Estate. One of the first uses of the term is attributed to Edmund Burke, the Irish Statesman, who used it in a parliamentary debate in 1787 when he referenced the three estates of parliament, then pointed to the press gallery as the fourth estate that was to hold the other three accountable to the public. As journalism students, we were constantly reminded that we were to stand in the breech with the people to hold government accountable.

This is a stark contrast to the role of the media as described by the U.S. “president” at his last White House Correspondents Dinner. After telling some great jokes, and he was very funny, the “president” struck a serious tone and said of the media: ”

But we’ve always shared the same goal — to root our public discourse in the truth; to open the doors of this democracy; to do whatever we can to make our country and our world more free and more just. And I’ve always appreciated the role that you have all played as equal partners in reaching these goals.

The “president” describes a free press as one that has the same goals as the White House—his administration in particular. This is not a free press.

Trouble is, the Fourth Estate has largely, through years of Communistic and Socialistic brainwashing, has become the lapdog of Leftists, Marxists, Islamists, and anarchists. The press, rather than doing its job of reporting the facts, has become a distinct editorial machine where truth is in the eyes of the beholder.

How else can the government—the White House, break, not enforce or establish new laws with impunity? The answer is found in the “president’s” closing remarks: “So I want to close my final White House Correspondents Dinner by just saying, thank you. I’m very proud of what you’ve done. It has been an honor and a privilege to work side by side with you to strengthen our democracy.”

One of the greatest insults to a true journalist is to have a public figure say that it has been an honor to work side by side together. It is the very perception of collusion that, in my early days as an investigative reporter, would have been the death nail in keeping my job.

Yet, today, this cozy relationship is applauded. Truth, as the “president” presents  it, is his truth, and he is thanking the media for standing for it. When the Fourth Estate abrogates its responsibility and aligns itself with a political ideal, Isaiah 59:14 comes to mind:

“And justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.”

It is now the job of you and me—the people, to become the Fourth Estate.

Have a blessed and powerful day!

Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com