I don’t know what precedent there is for this, but I’d call it a bad precedent.
The version of the president’s State of the Union Address posted on the House Republican website is not identical to the version that was actually delivered by the president. House Republicans censored the president’s comments on climate change.
via ThinkProgress
At the 43:25 minute mark, President Obama is supposed to say “I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what — I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe.”
Instead, the entire section is skipped.
And that’s not the only portion of the president’s address that was cut by House Republicans. They also cut a portion in which the president condemned torture and calls for respecting “human dignity.”
The obvious takeaway is that House Republicans think human dignity is the stuff of liberals.
Given that House Republicans are anti-science and pro-torture, it would be hard for me to believe this wasn’t intentional.
Update... Speaker Boehner's office now claims the censorship was unintentional, but I don't buy it.