Media Matters Jumps to Defend Unsolicited White House Emails to Federal Employees
by Richard GrenellMedia Matters, the defender of liberal media, jumped into the developing controversy and debate over White House Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle’s unsolicited White House emails to federal employees. Media Matters scolds and makes fun of CBS News and Fox News for highlighting the issue, calling the claims “pure speculation”. Ironically, Media Matters doesn’t deny that the unsolicited emails have been sent but rather they defend the emails by saying, “it appears they are sent out to everyone on the whitehouse.gov mailing list.” Well, duh. That’s the problem. Why are federal employees on the whitehouse.gov email list? And why are federal employees being hounded to do the White House’s political bidding for a trillion dollar entitlement program?
Building support for President Barack Obama’s health reform package by sending consecutive emails to federal employees’ official government email inboxes and instructing them to forward the emails to their “friends, family and online networks” is not only unethical but possibly illegal.
Media Matters also complains that the story has no anonymous quotes from frustrated federal employees in order to prove the story. Which is a fair point. I’ll give them that. So here are two anonymous quotes from State Department employees that didn’t sign up for the White House emails but are still receiving political musings from Nancy-Ann DeParle and the White House:
Anonymous Quote #1:
“ I didn’t sign up for this. Why do I have to bother with political fights from work. This is inappropriate and distracting to REAL issues.”
Anonymous Quote #2:
“I have been receiving these emails at my state.gov address, unsolicited e-mails such as the one below on a near weekly basis. Kinda threatening dontcha think? Budget problems if it doesn’t pass?”
Department of State employees receive hundreds of official government emails every day on pressing issues like the Israeli-Palestinian issue or the Iranian nuclear weapons issue. Should they have to worry about partisan political emails threatening budget complications if Obama’s bill isn’t passed?
DeParle’s language in one email flatly states that there will be budget problems for federal agencies if the Obama bill isn’t passed. DeParle uses scare tactics that are clearly meant as threats:
“No ifs, ands or buts about it — if we do nothing to reform our broken health care system, costs will continue to skyrocket and break the budgets of American families, small businesses and the Federal Government,” read the March 12th email from DeParle.
Since Media Matters is trying to dismiss the issue as “pure speculation”, here are 2 examples of the emails. Decide for yourself:
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28 Comments
One cannot defend the undefendable.
MMMM MMMM MMMMM Barack Hussein Obama on the way to his PURPLE ROBE, SCEPTOR, THRONE and CROWN as King o' the WORLD!!! MMMMM MMMM MMMMM
"There you go again!" ~RWR
Looks exactly like the stuff that Organizing For America sends out to it's members. Funny, don't ya think? Looks like the administration is using the government email as part of it's political machine.
Ok, I work for FEMA, just checked my Blackberry and did not receive this message. That being said, if this email was sent to any Federal Employee it may be a violation of the Hatch Act. I would remind Media Matters that the Hatch Act prohibits political acitvity by Federal Employees. This email by Nancy Ann DeParle may cross that line. The Hatch Act says the following:
use an official title or position while engaged in political activity
supervisory employees may not invite subordinate employees to political events or otherwise suggest to the subordinate that he or she attend the political event or undertake any partisan political activity
Clearly this is an invitation to undertake partisan political activity, by coercing Federal Employees to support a specific piece of legislation. I guess this administration is plowing through all laws and the Constitution in order to pass this bill.
and we get to pay for it! luck us.
Obama emailed me to help with the healthcare crisis.
somebody who is better with computers than I am please send this copy of the email along with Dennis'citations to the Ag in VA so he can add them to his list headed this week for the federal court in richmond. i would do it myself but i haven't a clue. thx
Since when does anyone believe that Obama and his minions give a sh!t about protocol, ettiquette, campaign laws, ethics or even basic human decency?
Obama RULES by the ends justifying the means and since he is smarter than the rest of us, whatever he believes is the 'right' thing he will do it. He dismisses dissent as simple ignorance because once the little people understand how wonderful his vision is,,,they will embrace it.
Talk about 'out of touch', talk about being in a bubble does not even begin to approach the degree of delusion this admin suffers from. I only pray that the event or events that wake this admin up or get it to change course do not include the destruction of our freedoms, liberties or our nation's pre-eminence,,,,any more than they already have.
Stay Strong November is coming!
Link to the Office of Special Counsel concerning the Hatch Act:
http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm
So it appears that government email services were used to coerce Federal Employees to call their congressional representatives to support a the Health Care Reform Bill. The Hatch Act was established to provide a shield between partisan politics and the Federal Employee. Do you remember Pelsoi's speech about pole vaulting over the wall to pass the health care bill? Here it is.
it's Thomas Paine time. read his Common Sense at;
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3755/3755-h/3755-h...
get active, keep active, and stay strong….vote out every single dimocrap….I know in the military we certainly were NOT allowed to do anything political while on duty…as I remember civilians were not allowed to do so either…this is an abuse of the system.
We need a separation wall between not politically appointed federal employees and the WH – I call this email unlawful spamming
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."
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Oops. Looks like the Obama administration has broken another law. His attorney general or counsel should have told him there are now laws that prohibit unsolicited emails from being sent. This falls under the anti-spam law. No problem. Obama can just issue a post facto executive order exempting himself from this law.
But if one becomes offensive, one need not try. Which would explain a lot of the insults coming from Obama and his healthcare-reform lackeys.
This Admin is pushing the edges to expand their influence. Wish I'd gotten one of those emails. Because we are employed by the govt, doesn't mean we are shills for their nitwittery, or are 'harrassable' by their minions. IS this kind of email a subtle threat? Do what we say or your promotion is toast?
ah, give the black guy a chance, whats the worse that can happen ???? huh ???
Boots on necks, folks. They mean to rule.
Lawyers,politicians(also lawyers),and government workers(some are also lawyers) have no need for following the law, they just make the law suit them…
This is precisely why Feds have the job security they do and are allegedly protected by law from being fired or otherwise harassed by political appointees.
Our job security allows us, in theory, to tell the originators of such emails to stick them where Hope and Change don't shine.
I cannot recall for sure, but I believe I received an email asking if I would like to be a regular recipient of "information" memos from the WH. Like someone above noted, I'm too damn busy to fool around with such nonsense and chose, again if memory serves, the "Decline" option.
Obviously this is another example of the White House arm twisting policy. The thing is, as I read these e-mails, the recipient can "unsubscribe" at the end of the message. OR, simply tag it as "junk mail" and/or bounce it back to sender.
[...] post: » Media Matters Jumps to Defend Unsolicited White House Emails to … By admin | category: federal do | tags: agency, alexandria, funding, hatch, health, [...]
[...] Phillips in mug-shot form on FoxNews this past summer. Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government has now picked up the thread. Expect [...]
upervisory employees may not invite subordinate employees to political events or otherwise suggest to the subordinate that he or she attend the political event or undertake any partisan political activity
Is there anyone else who can’t see the last part of this post? I think the writer needs to check the javascript on this post maybe?
Will it be broadcast? I am surprised at Fox's attempts to keep this silent. Does anyone understand how England and France are being taken over by extreme Islam? Is that what they want for the US? If free speech is good for them, it's good for non-Islam supporters as well. I am tired of the PC BS and I will speak as I please and if it offends someone, then maybe it's just that truth hurts, but the truth folks, will set you free. post pregnancy tummy They really ran a smear campaign for you Pam against this, so it has to be the truth if it's hurting them this much.
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