MSNBC has been criticized for becoming as an extension of the Obama White House in the way that Fox News was criticized as being an extension of the Bush White House. Recently, however, many have been alarmed by the degree of blind loyalty shown the president with hosts siding with the White House against press rights and attacking figures like Snowden. This open letter to Snowden by Melissa Harris-Perry however surprises as the host assures him that the Obama Administration will guarantee his rights if only he will return. This follows such scenes as a MSNBC commentator defending the Administration’s attack on press freedom but calling Holder the “Moses of Our Time.”
The letter seems almost mocking in tone for Snowden who will almost certainly face life imprisonment if he returns given the different treatment afforded people in America’s New Animal Farm system. The United States is no longer viewed by many around the world and within the country as a guarantor of civil liberties. Conversely, one can disagree with the actions taken by Snowden but he is viewed as a whistleblower and a hero by many around the world. What is striking is that we now have networks that seem to be deliver the official line and media spin for the government –something that was once ridiculed in other countries. Yet, Harris-Perry says that she wants him to come home so she and others “can talk about something else” and assures him that the Obama Administration will treat him special due to the fact that you “made a spectacle of yourself.” Indeed, the only concern that she can think of is that our prisons are abusive, not anything to do with Obama or his policies.
Of course, the host does not mention that Obama still claims the right to pick and choose who gets a real trial and who goes to a military tribunal for a kangaroo court trial. She does not mention that Obama claims the right to kill any citizen that he decides is a threat to the United States. She also does not mention the Administration’s abusive use of classification authority to bar the use of evidence in cases and sweeping claims of nationals security privileges. Then there is the scorched earth campaign by Obama against whistleblowers. Then there are all of the powerful politicians irate over the embarrassment caused by Snowden in revealing their own complicity in the warrantless surveillance program and calling Snowden a “traitor” and spy. Yet, she simply cannot understand why Snowden does not trust Obama. After all, this is the Obama Administration . . . and this is now MSNBC.
When you have a network of sycophants, there is going to be competition for the Sycophant of the Month Award. Hannity dominated that award @ Fox during the Bush Administration. I think Tokyo Rose here just won it for the month of July @ MSNBC.
Melissa is just an extreme example of a Mainstream US Press/Media that is submissive to the administration. They are in effect PR operations.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nsa-spying-scandal-focus-on-edward-snowden-by-us-media-a-911185.html
“As the mainstream American press goes after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, the leakers’ revelations are becoming an afterthought.”
What Elaine said. We should all be listening to what Greenwald is saying.
Is it possible for a civilian American citizen to be tried by a military tribunal for espionage?
I like Melissa, and when she is right, she is usually really right. However, in this case, I have to wonder if she left her common sense double-parked outside the studio.
Melissa, in many respects, is just like most of us who comment on this and other blogs. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and sometimes just WTF?
You mean like George Zimmerman got a fair trial?
Too bad they don’t have a charge in the legal code for stupidity. We could get George and Snowden with one fell swoop. And a lot of the House of Representatives too.
Surprised she didn’t promise there’d be a plate of warm cookies waiting for him
Anyone who thinks Snowden would get a fair trail needs to buy that waterfront property I have in Death Valley
WTF! Leaning forward to turn off MSNBC. What a bunch of misinformed cultists and punks.
At some point Republicans are going to abuse Democrats and minorities with the powers Obama created. Similar to how the Tea Party is being punished by the policies Bush created.
This is the opposite of how the American rule of law (that protects everyone) is supposed to function. Banana Republics operate this way, the leader in power punishes the opposing party and then the roles reverse when your leader is out of power – you are on the receiving end of abuse.
As a fan of Melissa Harris-Perry I’m very disappointed that she is not on the side of American rule of law which is the best longterm protection for minority groups.
Dredd and Elaine M., Here’s a list for those who are unable to focus: Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC), Joy Reid (MSNBC), Susan Rice (USA), Samantha Power (USA), Winnie Mandela (South Africa), Idi Amin (Uganda), Jean Bokassa (Central African Republic), Mobutu Sese-Seko (Zaire/Congo), Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia), Charles Taylor (Liberia), Jose Eduardo dos Santos (Angola), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Sani Abacha (Nigeria), Valentine Strasser (Senegal), Paul Biya (Cameroon),and the big kahuna himself: Barack Hussein Obama (USA, Indonesia, USA). Everyone of them are authoritarians. Just sayin’. Over and out.
Elaine… You got it….
Yeah… I’m trusting the government to do the right thing….
Melissa Harris Perry should apologize to Moses.
Dear Melissa, You should start reading the News papers. Whistle blowers aren’t welcomed by your new Moses. They are tortured. It is too bad you are so willfully blind.
Moses lead his people out of slavery. Your new Moses has helped construct a new slavery that consists, in part, in constant and unrelenting observation by the government.
MSNBC the OBAMA Cheerleaders.
I trust the administration! Trying to do something and not compromise your integrity. It’s very difficult. Bill Clinton had the strength to outlast Ken Starr, but Starr only had millionaires, Obama is up against billionaires.
After listening to the right sided news for thirty years, and I believe there is not a lot of liberal bias in the news, I find it wonderful to have a place for smart debate on MSNBC. If the news coming from the left only was all MSNBC had to offer then it WOULD be like Fox News, bought and paid for. Liberal media includes all points of view. Please let me decide what I believe! I can overlook some points of view and take them “with a grain of salt.” I can’t watch outright lies.
She is an imbecile.
One of the most foolish people in the media today.
Elaine M. 1, July 15, 2013 at 8:42 am
Greenwald Blasts Melissa Harris-Perry On Twitter: ‘Sorry I Forced You’ To Focus On Snowden Instead Of NSA …
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Thanks for the focus, we need it.
Too bad Snowden isn’t a bankster. Then he wouldn’t ever have to worry about going to jail.
Greenwald Blasts Melissa Harris-Perry On Twitter: ‘Sorry I Forced You’ To Focus On Snowden Instead Of NSA
by Evan McMurry
http://www.mediaite.com/online/greenwald-blasts-melissa-harris-perry-on-twitter-sorry-i-forced-you-to-focus-on-snowden-instead-of-nsa/
Excerpt:
Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, fresh from his afternoon as a Bond villain, took to Twitter to battle MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry for her open letter accusing Edward Snowden of distracting the world from his surveillance revelations with his Bourne Identity-esque capers.
“I hear you’re looking for a country,” Harris-Perry began in her missive to Snowden, whom she kept calling “Ed.” Well, wouldn’t you know, I have an idea for you! How about…this one?”
She told “Ed” that his whirlwind of Hong Kong hideouts and asylum offers had shifted focus from the programs he wanted onto reveal to his own real life spy-movie:
We could be talking about whether accessing and monitoring citizen information and communications is constitutional, or whether we should continue to allow a secret court to authorize secret warrants using secret legal opinions.
But we’re not. We’re talking about you! And flight paths between Moscow and Venezuela, and how much of a jerk Glenn Greenwald is. We could at least be talking about whether the Obama administration is right that your leak jeopardized national security. But we’re not talking about that, Ed.
This stuck in Greenwald’s craw, as he has for weeks been demanding that the media focus less on Snowden’s fate and more on the surveillance programs he disclosed. Greenwald wondered on Twitter why, if Harris-Perry thought the focus was in the wrong place, she didn’t fix that with her own show:
Regular people often don’t get it, but it takes a smart phd sometimes to really not get it.
“Obama still claims the right to pick and choose who gets a real trial and who goes to a military tribunal for a kangaroo court…”
Yes and he also chooses who may live or die, anywhere in the world. Snowden should remain vigilant.