When the White House first heard about the "death panels" last month, they tried to fight back via their blog. “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform” ran the post. “These rumours often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”
The right-wing blogosphere raised the alarm. RedState announced “the White House wants you to report anybody publicly opposing” healthcare reform. The talk shows picked up on it, with Rush Limbaugh calling it a snitch-for-Obama campaign. Then House minority whip Eric Cantor of Virginia claimed that the White House “wants Americans to report on each other. And Texas senator John Cornyn sent Obama a public letter, pointing out that “by requesting citizens send ‘fishy’ emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email, addresses, IP addresses and private speech of US citizens will be reported to the White House.”
The right-wing blogosphere raised the alarm. RedState announced “the White House wants you to report anybody publicly opposing” healthcare reform. The talk shows picked up on it, with Rush Limbaugh calling it a snitch-for-Obama campaign. Then House minority whip Eric Cantor of Virginia claimed that the White House “wants Americans to report on each other. And Texas senator John Cornyn sent Obama a public letter, pointing out that “by requesting citizens send ‘fishy’ emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email, addresses, IP addresses and private speech of US citizens will be reported to the White House.”
