Bush scolds China, Russia, others on press freedoms

Bush scolds China, Russia, others on press freedoms

rawstory.com

US President George W. Bush on Thursday sharply criticized China, Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and other countries over restrictions or attacks on the news media.

"No independent media are allowed in countries such as Cuba and North Korea, and those who attempt to report are often imprisoned," he said in a statement marking World Press Freedom Day.

"Repressive laws severely restrict journalists and freedom of speech in countries such as Belarus, Burma (Myanmar), Iran, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe," he said.

"We condemn the harassment, physical intimidation, and persecution that journalists, including bloggers and Internet reporters, have faced in China, Egypt, Tunisia, and Vietnam; and the unsolved murders of journalists in Lebanon, Russia, and Belarus," he said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Is this President for real!? What a hypocrite! Instead of pointing the fingers to everyone else, maybe Bush needs to "clean out his own back yard" first.

Thoughts?

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

While we are hardly the most free country in the world when it comes to
freedom of the press, we are plateaus better than Cuba, PRChina, Burma,
N. Korea and a several others.


It is funny on some level though, actually I can't think of any cases that
Bush has actually tried to suppress the press, that's not to say they're
are'nt any, but I can't think of any at the moment.

Originally posted by iori_komei

It is funny on some level though, actually I can't think of any cases that
Bush has actually tried to suppress the press, that's not to say they're
are'nt any, but I can't think of any at the moment.

Changing the Whistleblowers law was not a step in the right direction. Its the same thing as suppressing the press if you are stopping it at the source.

Lets not forget now also the need for passports to go to places where you only needed a drivers license before. The national ID thats coming soon, the idea that you gotta notify the government when you want to travel internationally beforehand. Same crap different country.

Originally posted by iori_komei
While we are hardly the most free country in the world when it comes to
freedom of the press, we are plateaus better than Cuba, PRChina, Burma,
N. Korea and a several others.


It is funny on some level though, actually I can't think of any cases that
Bush has actually tried to suppress the press, that's not to say they're
are'nt any, but I can't think of any at the moment.

That is because they own the press, since the press is working for him supress what?
They own CNN and FOX news, since free press does not really exist there is nothing to supress/
There was this thing with that arab news chanel ajazira comming in the US for the US viwers with a version in english, it didint have a chance from the start, they were not allowed to get a licence, and the person who had the idea was made to look like a criminal and a terrorist, this has been covered on ATS already.

You might ask your self who own CNN, MSNBC,ABC,FOX?
Well here are some intresting statistics.
la.indymedia.org...

Originally posted by Infoholic

US President George W. Bush on Thursday sharply criticized China, Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and other countries over restrictions or attacks on the news media.

Meanwhile, back home in LA, the police are busy beating the bejeezus out of protestors and reporters

Originally posted by pepsi78
There was this thing with that arab news chanel ajazira comming in the US for the US viwers with a version in english, it didint have a chance from the start, they were not allowed to get a licence, and the person who had the idea was made to look like a criminal and a terrorist, this has been covered on ATS already.

They got the license just fine...its getting a channel they came up against the wall with. Funny my cable company has over a thousand channels and the majority of them are not even active and yet they say no room for them. Big joke.

Originally posted by Infoholic


Is this President for real!? What a hypocrite! Instead of pointing the fingers to everyone else, maybe Bush needs to "clean out his own back yard" first.

Thoughts?

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Dont you just hate freedom of speech? God what was he thinking.

Hes right my friend.. You dont have to agree with certain things hes done here, but rest assured individual freedoms are far better in America then in the above mentioned countrys.

Originally posted by citizen smith

Originally posted by Infoholic

US President George W. Bush on Thursday sharply criticized China, Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and other countries over restrictions or attacks on the news media.

Meanwhile, back home in LA, the police are busy beating the bejeezus out of protestors and reporters

And the 'illegal alien protesters ' werent throwing bottles and rocks at the police which resulted in 15 injured cops...right?

[edit on 103131p://0305pm by semperfoo]

Yeah I think he is more than for real...c'mon, the man can't break wind in the U.S. and it would be all over every paper in the country...you might not like him and thats your right, but what he is cautioning the other countries about is fair...

and as far as LA goes...those cops will be wishing we did not have a free press by the time it's all said and done..

I find it ironic that people say the whitehouse owns the press...what do you say then when...
1. Bush's daughters are all over the media and it was not flattering..underage drinking, fake IDs, etc..
2. Cheney shoots his hunting buddy
3. Bush damn near chokes to death on a pretzel

c'mon...he doesn't get a break in the media

As has already been pointed out, the American mainstream works for the government...the system is setup in a way that any meaningful truth that may harm the powers that be, is unable to be reported on a mainstream scale.

The American system is far worse, as it seems to make the majority of citizens feel as if they have "freedom of speech". What a joke.

Bush is an idiot.

iori_komei,

ABC News reported on Monday that a senior federal law enforcement had revealed that the government is now tracking phone calls made by journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post and ABC News. We speak with Brian Ross, chief investigative reporter at ABC News.
Freedom of the Press Under Attack

In a clear attack on the freedom of the press, the US Justice Department recently violated its own internal guidelines in order to obtain the home telephone records of AP reporter John Solomon, who was covering the ongoing federal investigation of New Jersey Senator Robert G. Toricelli. Toricelli, a Democrat, is being investigated in connection with contributions to his 1996 Senate campaign.
A new attack on freedom of the press

THE BUSH administration's jihad against newspapers that reported on a secret program to monitor the personal-banking records of unsuspecting citizens is more important than the original story.
An assault on freedom of the press

Do you want more examples?

[edit on 5/3/2007 by Infoholic]

Originally posted by deadbang

I find it ironic that people say the whitehouse owns the press...what do you say then when...
1. Bush's daughters are all over the media and it was not flattering..underage drinking, fake IDs, etc..
2. Cheney shoots his hunting buddy
3. Bush damn near chokes to death on a pretzel

c'mon...he doesn't get a break in the media

And, lets not forget this...
Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado I present to you, the leader of the free world...


Not bad for a white boy

Originally posted by Infoholic
iori_komei,

ABC News reported on Monday that a senior federal law enforcement had revealed that the government is now tracking phone calls made by journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post and ABC News. We speak with Brian Ross, chief investigative reporter at ABC News.
Freedom of the Press Under Attack

In a clear attack on the freedom of the press, the US Justice Department recently violated its own internal guidelines in order to obtain the home telephone records of AP reporter John Solomon, who was covering the ongoing federal investigation of New Jersey Senator Robert G. Toricelli. Toricelli, a Democrat, is being investigated in connection with contributions to his 1996 Senate campaign.
A new attack on freedom of the press

THE BUSH administration's jihad against newspapers that reported on a secret program to monitor the personal-banking records of unsuspecting citizens is more important than the original story.
An assault on freedom of the press

Do you want more examples?

And to make your post look even more complete, I'll add audio and video
www.youtube.com...
God he has a hard time with other countries while hunting down jurnalists.


[edit on 3-5-2007 by pepsi78]

Infoholic, no more examples needed, I knew they existed, I just
could'nt think of any of the cases.

Well, I suppose to I was thinking along different lines to, so that probably
did'nt help either.


Thanks for the linnks though.

So Let Me Get This Straight

Bush shouldn't be encouraging these countries to improve freedom of the press?

Bush is the last person on this planet that should be encouraging anyone to do something that he knows absolutely nothing about.

He's spent his entire term(s) beating down America's rights, freedoms, and liberties. What business does he have voicing the concern for another nations?

Originally posted by Majic
So Let Me Get This Straight

Bush shouldn't be encouraging these countries to improve freedom of the press?

Not as long as he act as the good guy, it's another thing to come and say we are bad, we killed, raped, etc, don't become like us, and another is we are the good guys and we are seting an example while we hunt down reporters and jurnalists, while we tap their cell phones and intimidate them.
Bad guys don't like each other, I think this is the problem with bush VS other bad guys.
There is a differenced in the way the press is controled, in china they come out in public and do it, like sayig we control the press and we don't care.
In united states they don't do it in public, but behing closed dors, since some one is posing as the liberator it is only normal to have this outcome.
But some one said something a long time ago , a big figure.
www.youtube.com...
When america was 100% free.




[edit on 3-5-2007 by pepsi78]

Just to state my opinion.

I think it's good that he's saying it, even if it is sort of hypocritical.

Anyone in a position of power saying this is a good thing in my opinion,
even if they don't follow there words.

If you think Bush is bad, wait for his replacement. All this crap that Bush is changing and getting away with is to set the stage for whats to come, it doesn't matter if he is impeached because his job is done. He may not be president anymore but he and Dick will be Trillionairs. Where's Davy Crockett when you need him.....