Pen-Elayne on the Web

Controlling the Foreign Press

So let's just say, for argument's sake, that the fix is in this November. The fixers don't need to worry about controlling the American press, they've been doing that pretty well for four years. But what to do about those pesky fur'ners? They're liable to go back to their wacky overseas newspapers and, you know, tell their readers the truth and such. Well, now we have our answer. Via Maru Soze, the UK Guardian reports that our lovely Fatherland Security department has now come up with new rules for foreign journalists who need to renew their visas.

From next week the estimated 20,000 foreign journalists stationed in the US, who used to be able to renew their visas with ease in any major city, will be forced to leave the country to do so. Rather than applying to renew their visas in Washington or New York, they will be forced to leave the country and re-apply at a US embassy or consulate abroad, delaying their application for between four weeks and six months.

And you just know that any applications that are granted might not mean a thing anyway because of our tendency to stop foreign journalists at our airports and harass or jail them just because we feel like it. The Mayberry Machiavellis strike again.