Okay, so here's what's wrong with all the hand wringing from the Washington Press Corps over the Obama Administration collecting phone records from the AP, and the Fox News reporter.  First off, Americans aren't that crazy over a "Free Press." Depending on whose ox is being gored, for the most part they think the press reveals too much anyway. Then you've got the Patriot Act, which most, if not all members of congress went along with because they didn't want the American people to think they weren't serious about fighting terror.  The Patriot act pretty much gave every administration after George W. Bush the power to collect those records. I don't remember members of the press complaining about Freedom of the Press back then.

And where were the publishers, editors, and reporters in the build up to the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan?  They willingly tucked their collective tails between their legs and agreed to be imbedded with the troops and reported the administration talking points as fact.  Where was the investigative journalism? where was the "Free Press" when it was needed to spare the lives of thousands of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, the numbers of which we'll never know because it has never been report. 

Is it because the Freedom of the Press was being restricted, or was it because of the advertising dollars defense contractors spend to sponsor these so-called "News" shows.   If there is any restrictions on the news media, it is self-imposed. If they're not doing their job, it's because some bean counter in a high rise decided it wasn't patriotic, sexy, or cost effective to do hard hitting journalism.

If the "Press" isn't free to report, it has no one to blame but itself. They voluntarily turned over that "Freedom" years ago..  

Actor, writer,producer, William Demeo joined us the morning to talk about the DVD release of his film, "Once Upon A Time in BrooklynListen to the interview on my podcast page.