Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Yes We Can: United States Declared “Enemy of the Internet” With Iran, North Korea, and Other Bad Actors

President_Barack_Obama1-foam-fingerWe previously discussed the rapid drop of the United States in the protection of the free press. Now, the respected Reporters Without Borders has produced a separate report on Internet freedoms. In yet another dubious distinction for President Obama, the United States is now listed with such “Enemies of the Internet” as Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. This is our first time on the infamous list — a true accomplishment for an Administration that has been denounced for its wholesale attacks on privacy and other core civil liberties.


The Administration (and its Senate allies like Sen. Dianne Feinstein) spent little time in setting itself against the open Internet forum and has sought a variety limitations and sanctions for Internet speech. Our mass surveillance programs features prominently in our inclusion of this list. The National Security Agency has worked furiously to break down walls on the Internet while the Justice Department has pursued various individuals for web posting.

There will come a day when Democrats will seek again to speak in favor of core values of free speech, free press, privacy, and the like. When that day comes, there will be a chorus of howls from civil libertarians who have watched in astonishment as the Democratic Party enabled these assaults on freedom either actively or by acquiescence. The trading away of the power of principle for the power of personality will, in my view, be judged harshly in history. Obama will leave office in a few years and what he will leave a much larger security system, more extensive surveillance, and a mountain of hypocrisy for his supporters to climb in his wake.

I am not sure how the Administration will celebrate its latest distinction, but the First Lady is currently traveling at great public expense in China. That would seem a perfect place to celebrate since the White House told reporters that they would not answer any questions. However, the First Lady (despite announcements that she would avoid discussion of human rights) did call for respect for freedom of speech and other rights.

Source: Salon

135 thoughts on “Yes We Can: United States Declared “Enemy of the Internet” With Iran, North Korea, and Other Bad Actors”

  1. It’s always good to try to get a handle on the “actual facts”.

    Again, from the National Taxpayers Union:

    “For the time being, however, Mrs. Bush’s list of trips will remain in first place.”

    “Regardless of their political affiliations, the international travel records of First Ladies present a transparency issue for taxpayers that are separate and distinct from those of Presidents. This is especially true as it appears that more and trips are being taken separately from Presidential spouses. For the time being, however, Mrs. Bush’s list of trips will remain in first place.”

    http://www.ntu.org/governmentbytes/7-9-13-first-lady-international-flights-vacations.html

    http://www.ntu.org/about-ntu/

  2. I am amazed that some people give Michelle Obama a pass when it comes to true travel vacations while dubbing Laura Bush as wasting money on her travels.

    First of all, I don’t think Laura Bush traveled half as much as Michelle Obama has traveled on “vacations.” Most of Laura’s trips was WITH her husband. It seems most of Michelle’s are WITHOUT her husband using Air Force One for 4 round trips instead of 2 and the extra security it costs the taxpayers. When Laura took a vacation without her husband, it was with her 4 girlfriends for hiking to national parks which, BTW, was a yearly girlfriend vacation for 15 years.

    Some trips Laura took were as Honorary Ambassador for Literacy, working with the United Nations literacy programs; women’s rights in Afghanistan, human rights in Burma, 5 trips to support the HIV/AIDS initiative of President Bush, malaria prevention in Haiti, breast cancer awareness in the Middle East and Mexico, and more. Even now, the Bush’s travel to Africa to support the HIV/AIDS initiative.

    Media Matters and other progressive liberal sites want you to believe that the Bush’s spent more on vacations than the Obama’s and all the trips Laura made overseas were for play but, as usual, they’re just stories invented by the Soros/liberal progressive agenda to put the Bush’s in a worse light to deflect the actual facts.

  5. “I thought he was signing too many executive orders! Sheesh make up your minds.”

    IT’S AN ACT.

    Clearly he could sign an executive order, but why do that when there’s a possibility of members of Congress, like Peter King who might not pass it. Then maybe it won’t pass. Either way, he can blame congress if he needs to.

    HOW CONVENIENT!

    It’s his job to faithfully execute the Constitution. For this he doesn’t even need an executive order. Should there ever be a place for him to use that pin and phone, this is it. Signing an executive order on CO emissions is not his constitutional duty.

    It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. He’s administration is getting sued and it’s well publicized. I don’t know why he cares right now about this. Maybe he doesn’t want to leave office with less than a 30% job approval rating. That train has already left the station. Wait for it’s arrival.

    I keep wondering “what else?” Now I don’t even want to think what is possible with “what else” with this administration. I love my county and I want my son to have a good life. This Fundamental Change of America is regressive toward Marxism. We all know how that worked out, don’t we?

  9. It will remain to be seen how much of this promise to overhaul the NSA is real and not smoke and mirrors.

    There was no mention from what I read in the proposal to curtail spying on internet related activities of citizens. Also the plan seemed to be 18 months of retention instead of five years and that there was a discussion over who would retain these phone records wheter it be the phone companies, which were not willing to have to shoulder the burden of the record keeping.

    Also there courts having to be the ones to seek records were the same secret national security court that has been the focus of many civil libertarians have objected to as being rubber-stamps and non-transparent.

    Plus, how much has it been the case where terrorists are using telephone calls after all has come out recently? So was this merely a bit of making a big deal out of curtailing the spying on Americans in a way the terrorists are no longer using significantly?

    Furthermore, how likely is it going to be that congress is going to pass this proposed legislation anyway given anouncements by Senator Feinstein being so wholehartedly suporrtive of the NSA programs (unless it is the CIA looking into their records). But it does provide President Obama with a way of washing his hands of the issue and laying responsibility on congress to make the right decision and if they don’t then he can say he tried. Well, his administration could stop much of the spying now on its own but there hasn’t been much evidence to support that in the public forum so far.

  10. p.s. swarthmoremom,
    And the punchline of all this…
    … Snowden bad, Obama, like Bush did no wrong when they did it.

  11. swarthmoremom,
    Yes, the over hall is way over due… Nancy Pelosi was told about that in and among those 35 Articles of Impeachment. Summarily dismissed. Then, Senator Obama voted to immunize participants. Ca-“change”. Now President Obama suggested changes? This truly is an about time moment, NO?

    How about making what they did, illegal again?
    Oh, that would have to include what Obama’s Admin has been doing, too.
    Can’t have that, can we… pass the can opener, Obama needs one ASAP!

  12. “Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran“…
    … And now, America joins the Axis Alliance.

  14. WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency’s once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that — if approved by Congress — would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration officials.

    Under the proposal, they said, N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans’ calling habits. The records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order. NYT

    1. Really, Obama can declare laws unConstitutional with the swipe of a pen, but has to go to Congress for this? What a wimp? He could sign an executive order today given all the stuff he has signed to this point.

  15. This post by JT is about two things: 1. the frightening position that USGinc. holds in the world thanks to, 2. the amazing hypocrisy that Democrats evince, calculate, justify and engage in. This Democratic hypocrisy is at the top, engaged in by both Mr. and Mrs. Obama who proclaim their respect for free speech while simultaneously abridging it. At the bottom, we have ordinary Democratic citizens who willingly engage in hypocrisy. They do so by accepting and justifying the destruction of rights which belong to all citizens, under the banner of the party/personality of their choice.

    Those who appease the powerful now, will find they are, at some point, not allied with the powerful of their chosen party/personality. They will have been used to prop up injustice, to enforce it with their cheers, with their acquiescence. Eventually, they will lose this false place of pride. I will be interested to see if by that time, these Democrats just keep up the justifications, even when it is a Republican doing the abridgment. It looks like many Democrats love power more than they love justice, more than they care for the lives of others, more than they care about our nation.

    It has been a shameful action on the part of those who once said they
    opposed injustice, to readily embrace it. It has been disastrous for our nation and all the people’s of the world.

  20. “NY Times Reporter: Obama WH ‘Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom’ Today”

    by Josh Feldman | 4:25 pm, March 24th, 2014

    http://www.mediaite.com/online/ny-times-reporter-obama-wh-greatest-enemy-of-press-freedom-today/

    “New York Times reporter James Risen has been in a years-long legal battle against the government to reveal one of his confidential sources, even petitioning the Supreme Court to hear his case. He’s been very critical of President Obama‘s administration for its “aggressive use of the powers of the government to try to rein in independent national security reporting,” and in a recent journalism forum, Risen took another shot at the White House for being an enemy of press freedom.

    In fact, Risen went so far as to say the current administration is one of the biggest threats to such freedoms in a while:

    [Risen] opened the conference earlier by saying the Obama administration is “the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation.” The administration wants to “narrow the field of national security reporting,” Risen said, to “create a path for accepted reporting.” Anyone journalist who exceeds those parameters, Risen said, “will be punished.”

    Earlier this year, New York Times editor Jill Abramson called the Obama White House the “most secretive” she’s ever dealt with. And other reporters have made similar comments about this administration.”

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