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The Obama administration prosecuted more leakers and journalists than any other Presidential administration in history, and so it does not come as a bombshell that the FBI has been spying on journalists with the blessing of top-level officials.  And perhaps that is the essence of the problem. Americans have become the frog in the proverbial pot, blissfully swimming in the delightfully warm water, never realizing that the government is slowly turning up the heat – and has been for some time.

Former President Barack Obama found himself in some hot water back in 2013, when his Justice Department got caught secretly spying on James Rosen, a reporter for Fox News. The DOJ had not only pulled Rosen’s phone records (and those of reporters at the Associated Press as well) but put the journalist under physical surveillance. Rosen’s so-called crimes included exposing the State Department for deleting press briefing footage confirming the Obama Administration lied about ongoing dealings with Iran. In other words, Rosen caught the government in a lie, and did his job as a journalist – he reported it to the American public. And in return, the feds turned the all-seeing eye of Sauron in his direction.

At the time, then-Attorney General Eric Holder made symbolic gestures and promised new policies that would supposedly make it more difficult for the government to target journalists. What Holder left out of his grandstanding was that none of the new rules applied to National Security Letters. Known in government parlance as NSLs, these documents enjoy a separate set of rules that allow for nearly unchecked surveillance powers on anyone as long as someone utters the magic words “national security.”

The government typically issues a gag order regarding the surveillance activity, threatening officials at phone companies and other data sources with arrest if they inform the target. Give us what we want, and if you tell anyone, we will hurt you. There’s an expression for that; and it’s not “national security.”

There are many more stories; tales of journalists and staffers who find themselves under a microscope because they stepped outside of ranks and dared say the words that apparently terrify the government: This is wrong, and I’m going to do something about it. For all the hype about freedom of the press, the reality is that speaking truth to power is no longer an honored American pastime – it can be a very dangerous proposition if that truth casts doubt on the actions of  the government.