ONCE AGAIN, RIGHT BLAMES BUSH-ERA ORWELLIANISM ON OBAMA

Drudge:

AT&T to Load iPhones With Emergency Alerts From Obama – That You Can't Switch Off... http://t.co/QYNj0NDm8v

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) June 16, 2013

The link (tweeted by Drudge and also at the Drudge Report) goes to this Gateway Pundit post:

Just in case you want more Obama in your life...
AT&T is loading iPhones with emergency alerts from Barack Obama...
That you can't switch off.....

Engadget reported:

AT&T has begun rolling out Wireless Emergency Alerts updates for iPhone 4S and 5, so you won't be the last folks to know if the entire northern hemisphere is about to be covered in ice à la Day After Tomorrow.

You'll receive a notification from the carrier when your update is ready, but only if you're using iOS 6.1 or higher.

Once installed, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to your phone unless you switch them off via Settings. However, should you be tired of Obama, just know that there’s no way to switch off Presidential alerts.

So now Barack can track your calls and send you messages, too....

A quick search of the Net reveals that right-wingers (Pam Geller, Alex Jones) have been flipping out about this for quite a while, although even Fox Business acknowledges that "presidential alerts," which would be sent to all enabled recipients in the U.S., are intended to be for the direst of natural disasters and other emergencies.

But isn't this just Obama megalomania? No, as the FCC explains:

Why can't consumers block WEAs [Wireless Emergency Alerts] issued by the President?

In passing the WARN Act, Congress allowed participating carriers to offer subscribers the capability to block all WEAs except those issued by the President.

The WARN Act is the Warning, Alert and Response Network Act, which was passed as part of a larger port security bill ... in 2006. That's 2006 as in "when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress."

So, yeah, this is more Obama fascism that was actually a Bush-era idea.