It's pretty superficial politics, John B. to see everything as Democrat
versus Republican.
Here's John Nichols on TheNation.com right now.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/174450/our-liberty-cannot-be-guarded-freedom-press
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A genuine left-right coalition has developed over the past several days
in response to the revelation that the Department of Justice seized
Associated Press telephone records in its recent investigation of a CIA
leak. And that coalition is likely to strengthen in light of the news
that the DOJ investigated the reporting activities of Fox News�s chief
Washington correspondent as a potential crime��solicitation� of leaks.
The latter development, in many senses more troubling than the former,
calls into question whether basic protections for both reporters and
whistleblowers are crumbling after more than a decade of Patriot Act
abuses, Bush and Obama administration excesses and the politicization of
debates about what were once accepted standards for protecting the
public�s right to know and the privacy rights that underpin it.
In moments so rigorously partisan as these, many members of Congress
will retreat to their corners, mounting attacks or making excuses. But
there are some serious legislators, libertarian-leaning Republicans and
progressive Democrats, who understand the urgency of the moment.
They get that the revelations about DOJ overreach reveal a threat not
just to freedom of the press but to the most necessary of press
functions: the work of revealing for citizens the details of what their
government is doing in their name but without their informed consent.
None of these members are foolish or casual in their approach; they
understand that it is necessary for the government to protect against
the leaking of information that could endanger people. But they also
understand that it is possible to provide that protection within a
constitutional context.
Perhaps most importantly, they get that the best way to protect the
First Amendment guarantee of a free press is to protect the Fourth
Amendment guarantee of privacy. Journalists do not need�and should not
seek�an array of special protections to do their jobs. But journalists
and their sources do need to know that information can be shared without
the threat of unwarranted�and self-serving�government surveillance of
necessary conversations.
It is with this in mind that four very different members of Congress
(Michigan Republican Justin Amash, South Carolina Republican Mick
Mulvaney, California Democrat Zoe Lofgren and Colorado Democrat Jared
Polis) have proposed a precise and appropriate response to the overreach
by the Department of Justice. While the White House and key members of
the Senate are backing a Shield Law, which protects journalists from
being required to reveal sources, the House members are going deeper�to
protect not just journalists but all citizens from �unreasonable
searches and seizures.� They seek a Telephone Records Protection Act,
which requires court approval when the government demands telephone
records from service providers.
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