The White House has created a new position to deal with online media. If they think that someone has said something that is untrue about Obama they will be dealt with.
They’ve named Jesse Lee the Director of Progressive Media & Online Response. According to FishbowlNY, he will “essentially be responsible for building up Obama’s online presence as he prepares for his reelection bid, and squashing any negative stories.”
It appears that the White House is getting rather aggressive in their defense of the president and his policies as his re-election campaign rolls on.
Fishbowl jokes that if you say something untrue you will be destroyed. Sure it’s a joke but it doesn’t seem too farfetched. Keep in mind that this is a paid government position and Lee chose to use the imagery of a Terminator skull in the first post he made on the White House twitter account.
It’s pretty clear what he thinks his job description is.
So do people really want a taxpayer funded position whose job is to go after people that they think lied about the president?
The government tells lies about lies all the time so it’s pretty hard to make the claim that they will only be going after people who tell lies about Obama. It sounds more likely that they’ve set Lee up to be their online assassin.
If you don’t play ball you will be dealt with.
Your tax dollars are now being used by The White House to push back against the negativity that Obama’s actions create. They are trying to control the public’s opinion by bombarding the Internet with positive messages about Obama.
You can call it weaponized positivity but the traditional name for it would be propaganda.
It’s unsettling to know that it is up to The White House to decide what is untrue about Obama. Since he’s running for reelection there is the possibility that this new position will be used to do some very dishonest things just to make sure Obama gets reelected.
But then again that’s the Chicago way. You’ve got to stay true to your roots. Obama has learned from the thuggiest of thugs that you have to have good people to take care of your problems.
So far Lee’s twitter account is loaded with all types of sugary Obama goodness. It’s nothing but sunshine and rainbows and how The Obama Administration is leading America to glory. It’s too early to tell if any of it negated the bad feelings about Obama floating around.
There’s no telling what kind of wacky hijinks Obama’s Director of Progressive Media & Online Response will get into. We’ll just have to wait and see what the campaign season requires.
Will they use astroturfers in online talkbacks? Will they slander people? Will they ruin some poor writer’s career?
You’ll just have to stay tuned.
I do know that this position sounds more like a minister of propaganda or something menacing like that. And it’s all paid for with you or tax dollars. So even if you don’t support Obama in 2012 your wages are going towards keeping him in The White House.
That’s democracy in action. The needs of the majority overwhelm the rights of the minority.
