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Obama reminiscent of Nixon spying on Americans?

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President Obama may have taken his efforts to discredit citizens protesting against ObamaCare a little too far.

It is beginning to be reminiscent of the Richard Nixon administration's attempt to stifle dissent  by spying on American citizens. Thirty-five years ago, President Richard Nixon claimed constitutional authority to wiretap Americans' phone calls.

                                                             

                                        Nixon resigns and leave Washington to avoid impeachment

It appears that Obama has violated the Privacy Act of 1974 which goes back to the days of the disgraced Nixon period when it used federal agencies to illegally investigate individuals for political purposes. The Act prohibits any federal agency from maintaining records on individuals exercising their right to free speech.

Obama's administration has been under fire since it posted a blog that asked its supporters to e-mail any "fishy" information about health care reform on the Web or received electronically to flag@whitehouse.gov. Critics called it an "Orwellian" tactic designed to control health care debate.

Orwell's novel, 1984, has become famous for its portrayal of pervasive government surveillance and control, and government's increasing encroachment on the rights of the individual. Since its publication, many of its terms and concepts, such as " Big Brother", "doublethink ", and "Newspeak" have entered the popular vernacular. The word "Orwellian " itself has come to refer to anything reminiscent of the book's fictional regime.

Legal experts say Obama has run afoul of the law that prohibits him from collecting and storing data on people who disagree with it. What should be more perplexing for the White House is that there is a statute that requires it to retain all communication that it receives.

According to Judge Andrew Napolitano

The White House cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity unless someone is harmed by what the government did with the records.  But how would anyone know whether they are on the "list" being kept by the Obama administration.

Just as the Nixon thought he could get away with violating the right to free speech, Obama is apparently pushing that to the limit.  However, the effort of the White House to track American citizens through their use of the electronic media may be just one more reason for voters to fear the man who had promised to bring "hope" and "change" into the government. Instead he has brought distrust.

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/white-house-collect-fishy-info-health-reform-illegal-critics-say/

Privacy Act of 1974
http://www.ftc.gov/foia/privacy_act.shtm

Nixon attempt at spying on Americans
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/08/MNGHGGK8OC1.DTL

Read more:

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2547-Watchdog-Politics-Examiner~y2009m6d25-Obama-luster-fading-as-Americans-face-reality-check

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2547-Watchdog-Politics-Examiner~y2009m6d19-Obama-tax-and-spend-programs-meeting-resistance

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