John Cornyn Accuses Obama of Compiling 'Enemies List' - Updated

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is worried that the Obama administration is actively compiling an enemies list of citizens and organizations that do not agree with the president's plan to reform health care. On Wednesday, he penned a letter to Obama voicing his strong objections to a recent posting on the White House website that asked concerned Americans to forward instances of misinformation being put forth on the proposed legislation. Here's part of Cornyn's letter:

"I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward e-mails critical of his policies to the White House."

The original blog post at Whitehouse.gov was titled "Facts Are Stubborn Things," and included a video clip from Communications Director Linda Douglass refuting a Drudge Report headline claiming Obama wanted to "eliminate" private health coverage. Later, the post made the following pitch to readers:

"There's a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from out of control personal finances to end-of-life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain e-mails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or have seen something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

White House spokesman Adam Abrams denied that the e-mail request had anything to do with creating an enemies list, saying that it was simply a way to keep track of "intentionally misleading" information:

"We want to be sure people have the facts about health insurance reform that will lower costs, protect consumers from insurance regulations that deny them coverage and assure quality and affordable health care for all Americans."

Obama used the reach and viral power of the Internet to help him get elected, and he knows that staying on top of a story in this day and age requires a rapid-response approach on the web. No president has borne the brunt of Internet rumors more than Obama (the birth certificate issue and the rest), but that may simply be a function of increased cultural fluency with the technology. But could the flagging of sites and individual users who oppose health care reform constitute a modern-day enemies list?

Related Resources:

• White House Initiates “Snitch” Program On What They Call Misinformation Being Disbursed on Healthcare Reform
• President Obama, Linda Douglas, And The Very Very Stubborn Facts
• America Senses Something Isn't Right
• My Fishy Letter of Encouragement for the Town Hall Rebels
• Stop Talking And Get Out of the Way
• Memo: How to Beat the Right-Wing Mob
• Senator Grassley (and Others): Democrats Want to Nationalize Healthcare
• Why Aren't the Civil Libertarians Protesting Obama's Snitch Site?
• The Community Organizer Doesn’t Like People Organizing???
• Why is the White House Attacking and Making Fun of Americans?
• Democrat Proposes Jail Time for Hostile Bloggers
• You Might Be a: Radicalized Right Wing Extremest, If...
• Click here to read the DHS extremism report.
• Catastrophe