President Obama has refused to give importance to an organization that supported him being involved in a prostitution-human trafficking scandal. He has expressed an openness to a federal bailout of the media industry. And it would seem that his administration is dancing around the concept of censorship. And it's only Monday!

The government is investigating a major insurance company for allegedly trying to scare seniors with a mailer warning they could lose important benefits under health care legislation in Congress.

The Health and Human Services Department launched its investigation of Humana after getting a complaint from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a senior lawmaker usually viewed as a reliable ally of the insurance industry...

HHS ordered the company to immediately halt any such mailings, and remove any related materials from its Web site.

I haven't seen the letter and I don't know the details of what it said. But I have a hard time imagining anything that could be said--even outright lies against the government--that would merit a government investigation of any party's free speech. Let alone an "order" by the department of Health and Human Services to stop mailings and remove material from their website.

Is this anything but censorship? Since when does HHS have authority to censor an individual or company?

This goes to the very heart of the first amendment.

And for all the complaining of the left about former President Bush, can anyone cite any example where the Bush administration ordered a private party to stop communicating and to remove their statements from their website? We're in dangerous new territory here.

Refusing to commit to defunding a corrupt organization, suggesting possible government-sponsored bailout or breaks for the media and now engaging in what can only be considered censorship by the government itself.

I'm at a loss. This administration has taken a turn for the surreal.