The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Why is the media neglecting Anonymous’ threats?

A dangerous radical group has declared war on the United States! Have you heard this from the national media or the White House? No?

Well, me, neither. But it’s true. That group just happens to be Anonymous. And I believe the media can’t do a thing about it.

Anonymous is the same group that has — just this month — hacked into the websites of the CIA, the FTC, and the military contractor Stratfor as a means of exposing their activities. It can affect global foreign policy, like when it leaked hundreds of emails from the Syrian government that revealed the internal thoughts of Bashar al-Assad and his regime toward America.

Most would say that it is just as "dangerous" as the watchdog group WikiLeaks, headed by Julian Assange, most famous for its leak of 92,000 U.S. government documents related to the war in Afghanistan to newspapers around the globe.

But they’d be wrong. Anonymous is far more confrontational and revolutionary. Its goal is not to keep our institutions in line but rather tear those institutions down and leave them in shambles.

Anonymous released a video on Feb. 26 titled "Operation V." The jumbled computerized voice states at the end:

"To rebuild our government, we must first destroy it. Our time for democracy is here. Our time for real change is here. This is America’s time, to have its own revolution. Therefore, Anonymous has decided to openly declare war on the United States government. This is a call to arms. We call upon the citizens of the United States to stand beside us in overthrowing this corrupted body and call upon a new era. Our allegiance is to the American people, because they are us, and we are them … To the United States government, it’s too late to expect us."

Frightening, isn’t it? Anonymous has never said anything like this officially before. You would think that our media would be all over this. Imagine if the Tea Party said something like this in an official release, or even a logical scenario like the Muslim Brotherhood. It would be plastered on the front pages of every newspaper and in flashing red alerts on cable-news channels.

Unfortunately, the media won’t say a thing. On Feb. 23, ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper grilled Press Secretary Jay Carney on the Obama administration’s journalistic priorities. Tapper asked Carney:

"The White House keeps praising these journalists who who’ve been killed (abroad on the battlefield) … How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court? … I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time, and before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history … You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States."

It’s not only the lack of response on the Anonymous declaration. The national press has been extremely reluctant to criticize this administration and this president on a range of issues, from Obamacare to federal corruption and everywhere in between. Some thought it was about the color of President Obama’s skin. Others think that it’s because of their liberal bias.

But maybe they’re honestly fearful for their freedom.

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