President Barack Obama recently came out to remind people that “Leaks related to national security can put people at risk.” He however denied knowledge of this and the other scandals. In the past, Obama has been able to weather criticism by civil libertarians due to his iconic status with many citizens. This time is different. The media (rather belatedly) is seeing his Administration in a different light as a true threat to liberty. Now, Obama has given a speech proclaiming that he now thinks that reporters should not fear investigation for just doing their jobs so he has ordered an investigation . . . by Eric Holder and the Justice Department. Of course, it was disclosed on the same day that it was Holder who approved the abusive targeting of Fox reporter Jeff Rosen.
Obama stated yesterday “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.” Once again, civil libertarians are left scratching their heads. There have been complaints for years about the abusive targeting of journalists and the treatment of reporting by the Obama Administration as part of a criminal conspiracy with whistleblowers. Yet, Obama (once again) simply comes forward and expresses concern as if this is the first time that he has heard about the abuses of his Administration.
I recently published a column on how Barack Obama has publicly assumed many of the powers that were once cited as the basis for the investigation and attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. One of those areas was the Obama Administration’s crackdown on journalists. Richard Nixon was denounced for using the Espionage Act of 1917 to target Daniel Ellsberg. Obama has brought twice the number of such prosecutions of all prior presidents under the Act.
So now Obama has decided to act . . . by going to the very man responsible for this crackdown on both journalists and whistleblowers: “I have raised these issues with the attorney general, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the attorney general to report back to me by July 12th.”
That’s it? Holder will “hear their concerns” and report back to him? What is astonishing is that this speech was quickly embraced by Obama supporters as proof of principle from the President. Holder signed off on a search order targeting a journalist as a possible criminal co-conspirator for speaking with a source. He will now serve as some type of Obama therapy group leader on the anger and hurt felt by media organizations. I can only imagine the anatomical doll depicting the first amendment that Holder will pass around to allow journalists to voice their feelings and fears.
The Obama Administration — and yes, the President himself — is responsible for the greatest attack on a free press in this country in decades. His solution is a confab with the man targeting journalists. Notably, Obama insisted that analogies to Richard Nixon were misplaced. On that I must agree. Even Nixon would blush giving a speech like this.
G.Mason,
Careful talk like that will obtain you the wrath of staunch do nothing wrong Obama supporters…. Because, others are out to get him…..
Holder needs to be fired and investigated.
Obama needs to be impeached and removed from office.
The American people need to reestablish control over our government and remind the people who become President that they can be removed from power if they are not protective of the Bill of Rights
Rafflaw: “The IRS should be subjecting all 501c4 applicants to a strict investigation to prove that they are “primarily” serving the welfare of society as a whole. Most of the organizations started after Citizens United are mere shells designed to funnel secret money to candidates and political causes and to provide tax deductions to the wealthy donors without disclosing just who are those wealthy donors.”
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Right you are. The law should be applied as originally written, not subsequently changed by regulation. That’s just BS. Regulations can’t materially alter the law.
“To become an arch-atheist is easy, just join Freedom From Religion. It’s based in my town of Madison, and run by the Queen of arch-atheists, Anne Laurie Gaylor.”
Nick, LOL, do I have to join or can I just be in harmony with their mission:
“The nonprofit Freedom From Religion Foundation works to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism, and to promote the constitutional principle of separation between church and state.”
The Gaylor’s, Anne Nicol and Annie Laurie sound like gals it would be fun to have a drink with, but I always like feminist malcontents. 😉
“….for the most part. I like people who keep their faith, or non-faith, to themselves.”
That’s a big 10-4 buddy, there ought to be a law in fact, oh wait, there is. Srsly, I went years without even having to think about religion. I have enough things to think about so having to preoccupy myself with something like religion and the pernicious effect it’s influence is having on America is just a pain. It actually pi**es me off. Religion and political Christians are co-opting brain cells I can’t afford to spare to think about them.
I guess my first attempt is stuck in wordpress gitmoland.
Lotta, you got it right. The Watergate break in had nothing to do with Dean’s wife. History cannot be rewritten unless we allow it to be rewritten. The IRS nonsense is just that, nonsense. The IRS should be subjecting all 501c4 applicants to a strict investigation to prove that they are “primarily” serving the welfare of society as a whole. Most of the organizations started after Citizens United are mere shells designed to funnel secret money to candidates and political causes and to provide tax deductions to the wealthy donors without disclosing just who are those wealthy donors.
lotta,
you got it right. The break in had nothing to do with Dean’s wife. It is amazing how history is getting rewritten in an attempt to make this IRS nonsense into a big scandal. The scandal is that the IRS is allowing any of these blatantly political organizations to obtain tax deductions for their contributors with absolutely no social welfare work to speak of. The regulation using the word primarily. I think all 501c4 applicants should be required to produce evidence of their money going to charities or actual benefit the society as a whole. That is what the IRS should be doing with all applicants.
AY, I’m w/ you for the most part. I like people who keep their faith, or non-faith, to themselves.
And lotta, To become an arch-atheist is easy, just join Freedom From Religion. It’s based in my town of Madison, and run by the Queen of arch-atheists, Anne Laurie Gaylor.
lotta, I understand and like ballbusting, particularly in women. My daughter is a good ballbuster. But seriously, what I mean by arch-atheist are the ones that are really dug in deep. The Christopher Hitchens, who I really liked except when he wasn’t speaking on religion. I understand it because if I were an atheist, I would probably be of that genre. Being surrounded and bombarded by religion w/ people always preaching bugs me, and I’m a believer. The counterpart to arch-atheist are the uber-evangelicals. In all realms we need the polar opposites for balance. On religion, I’m in the middle, politics also.
nick spinelli: “If that gives even a bit of comfort to the arch-atheists, they’ll never admit it.”
*****
Nick, what do I have to do to transcend the label of (simple) atheist and become an arch-atheist? Do I get a pin or ID card? Is there a test? Do I have to pay dues? Is there a club? Are there meetings? Can I just not ignore religion- do I have to become some kind of activist? I can’t march anymore so can I just send e-mails and make phone calls? Inquiring, heretofore passive atheist, minds want to know.
Arch-athiests? Srsly? 🙂
(Just having some fun Nick, just having some fun.)
Bron and others here, Weren’t you watching closely during the Nixon administration or or you too young to have seen it unfold in real time? Watergate wasn’t about a break-in, it was a pattern of criminal activity originating with the President himself. I suggest you read this synopsis titled correctly “Why Obama is not Nixon” and get a grip. If you want to talk about how the law itself has become corrupted starting with The Patriot Act (Right Raf, it needs to be repealed as a good first step) and the government has literally become a security state, that’s a discussion worth having. But ‘this is the worst scandal(s) ever and Obama is worse than Nixon’? Oh please. Read a book on the Nixon administration and Watergate.
Obama- the White House, hasn’t even been touched by these scandals. There is only one scandal- the attack on the press/whistle-blowers. Benghazi and the IRS are bull, distraction and political opportunism. If Holder broke the law, broke the law, then fire him. If he didn’t break the law and I don’t think he did, then change the law. Has the knowledge that the NSA is monitoring all communication been lost on you? Where is the sense of proportion?
You want a scandal? or a scandal that couldn’t have been anticipated considering the legacy of laws and practices and paranoia now a cornerstone of American foreign policy and any domestic action or expectation that can be connected, even tangentially, to national security? How’s this: a bridge known to be deficient and unsafe in Washington State collapsed taking cars and commuters with it. There are around 8000 such bridges in this country. This President can’t get money out of Congress, or more to the point, the Republicans in Congress, to fix bridges and stimulate jobs and hasn’t been able to for five years. Republican obstructionists would rather kill the economy and citizens for political advantage; and at least with the base, for racist motives. How well the Southern strategy is working and the tainted, country damaging fruit it is bearing is a real sandal. How soon is Congress going to convene a committee about our bridges?
Bridges and NSA data Centers are important, Benghazi and low-level IRS incompetence is not. Gene and I said when the AP thing came up a few days ago (I said, Gene agreed, not trying to put words in his mouth.) that the attack on the press (and by extension whistle-blowers) was the only real scandal. And really, it’s probably a moral scandal because the law appears so far to be on the side of the Justice Department. CHANGE THE LAW, and drop the hyperbole. Obama=Nixon? Not on his worst day.
“Why Obama is not Nixon”
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2013/may/18/why-obama-is-not-nixon/
“The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)”
“A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013. Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.” It is, in some measure, the realization of the “total information awareness” program created during the first term of the Bush administration—an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans’ privacy.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/