The human wrecking ball that is Barack Obama is refusing to be a good lame duck and just go away. In a flurry of blows to America and a key Middle East ally, Obama stabbed Israel in the back at the United Nations and set the conditions for a total war on independent media.

The fiendish Obama waited until the Christmas weekend to quietly sign off on the creation of a new federal entity to combat “Russian” propaganda and target websites deemed to be sources of fake news. Snuggled warmly within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund the military was a nasty and secretive provision that thanks to Congress, creates an Orwellian Ministry of Truth.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman did a victory lap after the passage of this heinous assault on independent media via a press release on his website:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) today announced that their Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act – legislation designed to help American allies counter foreign government propaganda from Russia, China, and other nations – has been signed into law as part of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report. The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Senators Portman and Murphy in March, will improve the ability of the United States to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation from our enemies by establishing an interagency center housed at the State Department to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts throughout the U.S. government. To support these efforts, the bill also creates a grant program for NGOs, think tanks, civil society and other experts outside government who are engaged in counter-propaganda related work. This will better leverage existing expertise and empower our allies overseas to defend themselves from foreign manipulation. It will also help foster a free and vibrant press and civil society overseas, which is critical to ensuring our allies have access to truthful information and inoculating people against foreign propaganda campaigns.

“Our enemies are using foreign propaganda and disinformation against us and our allies, and so far the U.S. government has been asleep at the wheel,” Portman said. “But today, the United States has taken a critical step towards confronting the extensive, and destabilizing, foreign propaganda and disinformation operations being waged against us by our enemies overseas. With this bill now law, we are finally signaling that enough is enough; the United States will no longer sit on the sidelines. We are going to confront this threat head-on. I am confident that, with the help of this bipartisan bill, the disinformation and propaganda used against us, our allies, and our interests will fail.”

“The use of propaganda to undermine democracy has hit a new low. But now we are finally in a position to confront this threat head on and get out the truth. By building up independent, objective journalism in places like eastern Europe, we can start to fight back by exposing these fake narratives and empowering local communities to protect themselves,” said Murphy. “I’m proud that our bill was signed into law, and I look forward to working with Senator Portman to make sure these tools and new resources are effectively used to get out the truth.”

Senator Murphy is the gun-grabbing anti-Trump fanatic from Connecticut and considering that the role of alternative websites in bypassing the mainstream media to get the “truth” out is what put a fork into Hillary his comments amount to a declaration of war.

That this abomination was able to covertly move through the House and Senate with absolutely no public debate is a testament to how antithetical to American values that it is. The nation’s founders fully understood the importance of an independent free press when it came to erecting a bulwark against tyranny.

Today, bloggers and independent media writers have become the essayists and pamphleteers of modern times while the snakepit of Congress and the corrupt establishment media are akin to those defending the British monarchy. It is particularly dastardly that conspiracy theories about Russian influence of our elections is being used to justify the coming crackdown given how the still unproven accusations are treated as holy gospel.

If all goes according to plan this could end up being Obama’s most damaging parting shot of all considering the potential for long term damage to free speech.

Originally published at Downtrend.com