While they could be described as an attack on 1st amendment they are not unusual, even in more recent history. My dad related to me the many attacks by Harry Truman on commentators like H.V Kaltenborn. They ranged from anger to sarcastic mimicry. Of course Kaltenborn never responded directly to these attacks, but simply carried on with his criticisms. That would be a course folks like Santelli, Rush, and Cramer should emulate.
Maybe, but since Obama has a demonstrated inability to handle criticism, I think we should pile on and make Obama crack up.