(Illustration by Linas Garsys, The Washington Times)When President Obama and New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer join forces to ostensibly protect freedom of speech and the press, it's time for believers in the First Amendment to take to the battlements.
The president, under fire for his recent, multiple assaults on the freedom of reporters to do their job, is looking for cover, which is no doubt why his good friend Mr. Schumer recently got a call from the White House suggesting he reintroduce an "updated" version of a press "shield law" that's made periodic appearances in Congress since 2007.
Mr. Schumer was, of course, more than happy to comply, and the president's freedom-loving attorney general, Eric Holder Jr., quickly chimed in with support for the idea. Those facts alone force one to question the substance of the proposed law and ask as one always must when a crime has been or is about to be committed: "Who benefits?"
In this instance, it certainly won't be the First Amendment or press freedom, both of which will fall not into the category of beneficiaries, but of victims. The established media will benefit, however, as the proposed law will banish bloggers and those who are part of what has come to be known as the "new media" into the outer darkness.
The president, too, will benefit because he will be able to say he supports press freedom while his Justice Department continues to harass and prosecute those reporters who exercise that freedom in ways he doesn't appreciate.
New York Times reporter James Risen continues to refuse to reveal the names of confidential sources the administration wants to go after. A president Mr. Risen described just last week as "the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation" can be assumed to be motivated by something less than a concern for that freedom.
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