Today I will join a distinguished panel to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Watergate. I will be speaking with Liz Holtzman, member of the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate; Daniel Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame; and Fritz Schwarz, Chief Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice and former Chief Counsel to the Church Committee. We will be discussing the legacy of Watergate in terms of our current controversies over FISA, war powers, presidential papers, and other executive abuses.
The event will be held in the National Press Club and is being organized by Common Cause. The panel will be held at 3:30 pm on March 13, 2013 at 529 14th St. NW, Washington DC 20045.
You can register to watch the conference here
“Forty Years Later: The Lessons of Watergate”
What are “the lessons”, one has to wonder. It would seem that we didn’t learn much… or enough…
Reported in the Washington Post today: The Department of Justice has won the annual “Rosemary Award” – named in honor of Nixon’s secretary Rosemary Woods who “accidentally” destroyed Watergate evidence while practicing yoga!
Oversight panel pushes for transparency
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/oversight-panels-bipartisan-push-for-transparency-88831.html
http://youtu.be/MRiQ0SGJ_98
http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/44-2013/2580-nsa-whistleblower-drake-to-speak-at-npc-luncheon
NSA Whistleblower Drake to Speak at NPC Luncheon
by Dylan Blaylock on March 12, 2013
“This coming Friday, March 15, Government Accountability Project (GAP) client and National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Tom Drake will speak at a luncheon at the National Press Club (NPC).
This event is part of the NPC’s involvement in Sunshine Week, a national initiative promoting open government and transparency.
Drake will speak at 1:00 p.m., and a lunch preceding his remarks will be served at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are required for this event; more information about this and other details can be found on the NPC webpage. Journalists can also submit questions to Drake in advance, with instructions to do so contained on the NPC page.”
Obama’s secrecy fixation causing Sunshine Week implosion
Even the most loyal establishment Democrats are now harshly denouncing the president for his war on transparency
by Glenn Greenwald
14 March 2013 09.41 EDT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/14/obama-transparency-podesta-sunshine-week
Excerpt:
When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, his pledges of openness and transparency were not ancillary to his campaign but central to it. He repeatedly denounced the Bush administration as “one of the most secretive administrations in our nation’s history”, saying that “it is no coincidence” that such a secrecy-obsessed presidency “has favored special interests and pursued policies that could not stand up to the sunlight.” He vowed: “as president, I’m going to change that.” In a widely heralded 2007 speech on transparency, he actually claimed that this value shaped his life purpose:
“The American people want to trust in our government again – we just need a government that will trust in us. And making government accountable to the people isn’t just a cause of this campaign – it’s been a cause of my life for two decades.”
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(America’s hiding one hell of a secret. And when it comes to light? “Worse than Watergate” comes to mind…)
rafflaw,
Not only aren’t banksters prosecuted for their misdeeds–they are often rewarded.
Elaine,
that is an amazing story about UBS and its bonuses.
Ross,
The Dean book was a good one.
Hope to read a report from JT re: the panel, with a video.