Obama’s new Snitch Central: AttackWatch

Obama’s new Snitch Central: AttackWatch
posted at 10:05 am on September 14, 2011
by Ed Morrissey

In 2009, the White House launched an effort to get people to snitch on those who expressed opposition to President Obama through a new official e-mail, flag@whitehouse.gov, and a web page on the official White House site. It didn’t quite last a fortnight, thanks to an outcry of anger over the idea that a President would be so petty and so paranoid as to need an official informant bureau in the White House. They dropped this about the same time that Obama finally dropped his war on Fox News, having lost on all fronts to control opinion.

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Did they learn a lesson? Apparently not, or at least they learned the wrong lesson. The “flag” program is back, but this time it’s being run out of the Obama re-election campaign:

This is, at least, not nearly as offensive as running a Snitch Central out of the White House. It’s just as silly, though, and every bit as petty. The categories for passing along an “attack” include significant events like a TV interview or broadcast ad, but also include such trivial categories as “forwarded e-mail” and “rumor.” Presumably, the campaign would then debunk the “rumor,” which would then give it a lot more attention and oxygen than it otherwise might receive. In fact, it’s not inconceivable that people who really wanted to spread “rumors” would do so by reporting them through AttackWatch and waiting for the campaign to publicize rumors through their response.

This President and his team still haven’t learned the problems that come with punching below one’s weight. Besides, their big problems don’t come from rumors; they come from the record of abject failure that Barack Obama carries into this campaign. They’d do better to spend the money to hire better economists to consult the President than the coterie of academics that keep pushing the same Obamanomics that have flopped for the better part of three years. In the meantime, this serves as a good reminder as to just how thin-skinned and paranoid this President has been.