Outrage: US Politicians Arrest Journalists

Ladies and gentlemen, I haven’t posted in a while because my work and theatrical performance schedule is packed, but this one is important.

When the Republicans took the House in 2010, many people were ecstatic. I advised caution, telling them that too often the GOP is just like the Democrats, using government power for their own purposes when it suits them. Many of my Republican friends have told me repeatedly that the GOP is the only chance we have to stop the Democrat-led erosion of our civil rights.

If I told those friends that a Congressional panel had not only ejected a camera crew from an open and public committee meeting but also had them cuffed, arrested, and led away by capitol police, I know what they’d say. They’d point to this as a perfect example of why we need more Republicans in office.

The only problem is that this incident, which occurred on February 1, featured the REPUBLICANS arresting the journalists and the Democrats protesting the action.

You read that correctly: in this case, the fascist, freedom-hating, secrecy-desiring politicians were those who my Republican friends claim are fighting for our rights and freedoms. Allow me to go into detail.


I first found this story on the Huffington Post, but it was also confirmed by other sources, such as the Los Angeles Times and Politico. Here’s what happened.

On February 1, 2012, the US House subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology was meeting to discuss the process of “fracking”, i.e. the practice of injecting high-pressure water with some chemicals added into shale beds to fracture the formations and release pockets of oil or natural gas. A gentleman by the name of Joshua Fox was in attendance with his film crew.

Now we have to talk a moment about Mr. Fox, because he produced a documentary called “Gasland” that was critical of fracking. As you might imagine, many Republican proponents of the process were less than happy with the documentary, and have criticized it publicly. But Mr. Fox wanted to cover this meeting for possible inclusion in a future documentary.

So there was Mr. Fox with a small camera crew, intending to film this open meeting of the subcommittee. The meeting was already being filmed by CNN, but Fox wanted to control his own camera shots. But there was a problem. You see, he didn’t have a permit to film. Oh, he’d TRIED to get a permit, but he’d been denied. He claims it's because the ranking GOP leadership disagreed with his politics. And since credentials and permits are often dispensed without deference to the First Amendment, he may have a point. I mean, the goal of the permit is to prevent dozens of crews from crowding the meeting space, but with only their camera present that wasn’t much of an issue.

So there he was with a camera in a meeting that was open to the public, and the Republican leadership objected. They objected so strenuously that Fox was cuffed and arrested by Capitol Police. The incident, ironically, was filmed by a staffer using his cell phone. So CNN’s camera was okay, a staffer’s cell phone camera was okay, but Fox’s crew was so over the top that he just had to go to jail.

On the cell-phone footage, Democrats can be heard urging the Republicans to stop the arrest and let him film the open-to-the-public meeting. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

So, Republicans are the ones who want open government? Not this time, because it would have conflicted with their politics. Republicans are the ones who care about our freedoms and rights? Again, not this time.

What my friends miss is that the Republican delegation in Congress is made up of PEOPLE. And many Congressional candidates run for office because they’re attracted to the power of the office. That means they like to exercise that power… Which is just what they decry the Democrats for doing.

It is with great sadness that I report to my friends that, once again, we have proof that Republicans like government power and are just as prone to abuse their authority as are Democrats. If you’re looking to the Republican party to protect our freedoms and rein in government abuses, you will be thoroughly disappointed.

I looked, and I was unable to find statements from Boehner or any Presidential candidate that chastised the subcommittee members that imprisoned a journalist for trying to record a meeting that was both open to the public and being filmed by one other crew. Not one. And to quote one of my favorite movies of all time, “the maxim under the law is that silence betokens assent.”

The sad truth is that Republicans are in the game of gaining and using the political power that comes with a large, powerful government by claiming to want a smaller, less intrusive government. It’s sneaky and dishonest… at least with Democrats we KNOW they want an all-powerful central government that can control most aspects of our private lives, because they’ll happily TELL US THAT! With Republicans, the goal seems similar, but they’re lying to us about it.

I don’t care if you disagree with Mr. Fox’s political views, he has the absolute right to hold those views and to make as many documentaries as he likes. And politicians have no business arresting him for trying to film public meetings.

This doesn’t surprise me… and I apologize to my Republican friends if I’ve hurt them with this revelation. But it is the truth, and we need to recognize it.

If you trust either of the two major political parties to fight for us and our rights, you will be disappointed. There is no power for them in doing that, and they want that power. They like to use that power.

The sooner we all recognize this, the sooner we can start looking for a viable alternative that might, just MIGHT try to do what the Republicans are falsely claiming they want to do. Before it’s too late… assuming it’s not ALREADY too late.

For those who'd like to read the news stories on this, here are the links:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/environment/la-me-gs-gasland-director-fox-arrested-filming-house-subcommittee-20120201,0,4337363.story

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72326.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/house-republicans-order-j_n_1246971.html?mrefid

And here's a link to Mr. Fox's response to the incident:
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/01/416951/gasland-director-josh-foxs-statement-on-his-fracking-hearing-arrest/?mobile=nc