He has no criminal record. He is an internationally followed author and human rights activists. He is also the former British British ambassador to Uzbekistan with 30 years of diplomatic experience. However, Craig Murray has reported that he was denied entry into the United States by the State Department when he was traveling to serve as Master of Ceremonies at an award ceremony honoring John Kiriakou, the CIA torture whistleblower.
Various sites are reporting the story but no mainstream media has picked it up. If true, I am not sure why this is not bigger news. While Murray has attracted critics over his stand against torture and criticism of the ruling government in Uzbekistan. However, there is nothing that I have seen that would justify his being denied entry into the United States. Given his human rights advocacy, groups are understandably outraged.
Kiriakou was the only U.S. government official to go to jail in connection with the torture program. Not those who committed the torture. Not those who ordered the torture. Only the man who disclosed the torture program.
While challenging such orders at the State Department is time consuming, Murray should do so. Otherwise, the Administration is not required to offer any explanation. However, if this is true, the media should force some explanation from the Administration other than there was a “hit” on the State Department computer.
Nothing illuminating in the comments so far about the subject of the post. Just teenage chat about other stuff.
But I malign many thoughtful teenagers.
@Nick
re: “Liberals always want to control. If only they could just control themselves.”
Agree, that’s why if I have to have a label I consider myself to be a Progressive. Liberal has been co-opted by Hilbots and now has dirty connotations. These liberals who march for every snowflake cause TOTALLY ignore real plight the Standing Rock indians are dealing with. Somehow it’s okay that Obama and HRC have ignored their plight. Disgusting.
More pipeline news: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-north-dakota-pipeline-20160909-snap-story.html
@Squeek
Excellent analogy as usual! Hilbots, in particular, are a demented folk IMO given all they choose to overlook to win.
@Olly
So, will you vote for Jill? =)
Sorry I was slow to respond. I was perusing her platform and became violently ill. I will vote for Jill but only if she chooses Ted Cruz as her running mate and resigns from office on January 21st, 2017.
Somehow I knew you’d say that =)
Which is why I gave it to you. 🙂 You’ve read my posts and knew I could never vote for Stein because she is not a constitutionalist. She appeals to every special interest group imaginable with the exception of anyone interested in a government limited by the rule of law. I cannot see any daylight between her and Sanders.
Like I have said many times,
The same thing applies to expectations that Democrats will act in a principled, or logically consistent manner. The main question you need to ask, is “Does “whatever” further the specific interests of the Democratic Party? If it does, it will happen. If it does not, it won’t happen. If it is uncertain whether or not “whatever” will further the specific interests of the Democratic Party, you next ask if “whatever” will help the general interests of Big Government.
Whistleblowers hurt Big Government, sooo they are persona non grata to Democrats. Any protestations of “transparency” will fall on deaf ears.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
William Binney said we were “this close” to a turnkey totalitarian state. Has the key been turned?
I would say yes, we are there. See what you think of this article which outlines what the USG has already done.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/08/the-tyranny-of-911-the-building-blocks-of-the-american-police-state-from-a-z/
I would agree Prairie Rose that the key has been turned but like in real estate and depending on one’s worldview, what we’ve bought is in the eye of the beholder. Some believe we are still a constitutional republic or representative democracy, etc. etc. However we function more along the lines of a utilitarian dictatorship masquerading as a form of democracy. All real power rests in the hands of an oligarchy that wields its power through a weaponized, administrative state. Until the people wake up from their stupor and recognize what they’ve lost then this republic is lost.
“Some say voters should just suck it up and pick their poison. Do you want the president who will maintain a more-or-less mainstream American foreign policy (more hawkish than Obama, less than Bush) but who lies brazenly, disregards the law, and is a walking impeachment risk? Or do you want the president who lies brazenly, cozies up to our chief strategic rival, demonstrates extraordinary ignorance of foreign affairs, and threatens the existence of alliances that have kept global peace for decades? I say: Pick neither. Now is not the time for participation. Now is the time for protest. The goal is to hold either candidate in check — to minimize the damage — for four years, then to reset the process and rally behind a man or woman who understands American national security and who would truly defend American interests. The current fight isn’t between a nationalist and a progressive, it’s between a Trumpulist and a Clintonist — two people who place their own interests over the country’s. Reject them both.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439848/foreign-policy-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-unfit-be-commander-chief&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoUMTM2NTkyNTc1NDMyMDYzMDIxMTcyGjU2MjMxYTIzMjJhYzE4ZWQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNGxRFW-yX-rSa2KNUqmkwQIA7GSyw?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Trending%20Email%20Reoccurring-%20Monday%20to%20Thursday%202016-09-08&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives
Zuckerberg is irritated that European countries want FB to pay taxes. And of course he is all about the TPP and HRC. His latest censorship:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/09/facebook-deletes-norway-pms-post-napalm-girl-post-row
Why is anyone surprised at this latest attempt to curtail free speech and activists? Obama ran on the platform of having the most transparent administration and it has been anything but. More whistleblowers punished than any other presidency. Compliant MSM which has reached across the pond – The Guardian and der Spiegel shillin’ for Hill and the TTIP. It’s positively frightening. Twitter shutting out Bernie supporters tweets, FB censoring content, PBS cutting out Jill Stein’s words in an interview recently.
To get real news lately one has to go to the alt Right sites (Breitbart) and to the alt Left (Lee Camp & Ed Schultz RT.com) as well as analysis by indy media (Tim Black, LTMB, Jimmy Dore). TYT has gone to the dark side unfortunately. What a bizarre state we are in!
Bureaucrats reported Nixon abuses. They cover and lie for Dem abuses. It has been bureaucrats that have lied and plead the 5th regarding the IRS and State Dept. email scandals. Bureaucrats are overwhelmingly Dem. The MSM is overwhelmingly Dem. Folks are fed up and Trump is tapping into that. And you hand wringers can all relax. If Trump is elected, these bureaucrats will report any shenanigans he tries. You can bet the ranch on that.
That’s a concern going forward. The legions and generations of those inside the beltway are basically the new royal families. Same model, different titles. Bureaucrats. Trump will be fighting them all the way. Not all that dissimilar to Oliver Cromwell. I guess it is a shame that no matter what happens to Trump in the end, the bureaucrats record will be what is referenced. I think he has really no way to do radical change to policy, but he might start a cascade of events that will result in real change. And it may be a very ugly period in history before it’s all over. Trump will be long gone before this is all figured out, but he might start it.
Steve Fleischer, bureaucrats aren’t even elected, they’re appointed and they often make rulings that have the effect of being a law.
Fixing this is up to the voters on election day. Not just the one that is coming, but also during the primaries. This is up to the citizens to fix. RossHeckman, great posting.
Obama really doesn’t like free speech when it exposes things he would rather keep secret whether it’s his appalling refusal to punish torture or his disturbing willingness to hand over our sovereignty to multinationals in the TPP! As to the main stream media, they are always willing to turn the other way for Obama. Of course, they are really creatures of corporations, protectors of the ruling elite and basically entertainment. Sad, very sad and infuriating. A human rights activists who is against torture is excluded but Saudi Princes who engage in wide speed human rights abuses daily parade in and out at will.
The MSM and much of the US government is indeed dysfunctional, but the US government allows the world to use the internet, posting their own thoughts and ideas. Mr Murray can still act as MC at the event on a screen using the Internet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy-sVByUHqE
Try 31:15 for starters
He had no peer. Thanks for posting this.
It’s impossible to post Carlin too often.
If you want to blow your mind, watch Carlin in “With Six You Get Eggroll” (1968) also starring Doris Day, Brian Keith, Barbara Hershey, Pat Carroll, Alice Ghostly, and Jamie Farr. Our beloved 20-something Carlin plays Herbie Fleck, wearing a white hat and uniform while serving Doris and Brian in their car at a classic 50s/60s drive in restaurant. His character is adorable, protecting (so he thinks) Doris’ character from the advances of Keith’s character. Carlin uses s funny accent, a weird blend of NY and Jersey.
It’s really too bad that Trump is such a bung hole. If the nominee’s personality was even marginally normal, there’d be almost no need for the election he/she would have such a huge lead.
As for this story: if Obombya was a Republican, the MSM would positively incinerate his very being w/the coarsest language till he reneged. As it is, he gets a free pass except for stalwarts like our dear Professor Turley and various fringe blogs.
Same as Obomya’s endless wars, including one he swore to end as his primary position in his first campaign, and which he still fights (Iraq…hey brain dead Democrats…did you forget his pure unadulterated lies?) He swore dozens of times “no boots on the ground” in Syria, wherein several hundred US boots are now, strangely, “on the ground.” And not a peep from the Dems or MSM.
If this war monger was a Republican, all we’d hear 24/7 from the Dems and MSM pure condemnation for all the killing and maiming and war. But he’s a Democrat, and black, so he’s just like baby Jesus.
If you want to kill hundreds of thousands of innocents and still be friends with singer James Taylor and George Clooney, become the Democrat President, and kill to your hearts content.
And don’t bother claiming the Reps do the same. I want both major parties banned from Federal office for at least a half C if not permanently. And few things in life would brighten my day as much as seeing both Bushes in prison for life, unless worse legal penalty is an option.
It is disheartening to see how our political class is increasingly abandoned its commitment to a free society, and it is particularly disheartening to see how the media has become the boot-licking lapdog of the powerful instead of being their watchdog.
Bureaucrats are part of the “protected” class.
That means that they face almost no risk for bad behavior. Witness that no torturers went to jail.
The people who denied Murray a visa are fellow bureaucrats who resent Murray’s commemorating a whistle blower.
And the politicians/MSM can’t figure out why Trump has so much support.
And you think Trump would be letting in more people. That is the essence of a Trump supporter, stupidity. Personally, I’m still poed about Farley Mowat being refused entry. Now there was a war hero, environmentalist, great writer, and global wit. But not to America.
Issac,
What are you complaining about? For a guy that believes ALL our rights come from government, you lost your credibility and your right to be outraged at anything they do. Yes, many Trump supporters are stupid in much the same vein as Clinton supporters, because they have no desire for the rule of law, just the rule of their candidate. It’s these morons that think they are safe only if their ruler rules; not once considering that dog could very well turn on them. You see, a government that is unrestrained by the rule of law will see justice in everything they do.
“But, unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. And when it has exceeded its proper functions, it has not done so merely in some inconsequential and debatable matters. The law has gone further than this; it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense.” Frederic Bastiat
Issac,
I don’t get you here either. Trump is pro torture. Obama is pro torture. Clinton is pro torture. Bush?Cheney is pro torture. They all literally believe it is fine to torture other human beings. Kerry just went to morn the death of one of our wonderful allies who boiled people alive on behalf of USGinc.
Obviously then, this isn’t strictly a matter of which party has the most stupid supporters. It’s a fact that torture is against US and international law, yet the USG engages in it and excuses it.
Further, in this particular case, it is Obama, a Democrat, who is protecting both himself and the past torturers from prosecution. Part of that strategy is to make certain US citizens do not understand how much torture our govt. did and does engage in, hence the denial of entry by a man who is able to speak about that information for the public.
If Trump supporters are stupid for supporting torture, logically, Clinton and Obama supporters are equally stupid, if not more so, since their “leaders’ have actually ordered torture. In this category, Trump is only a wanna be.
I think we should come together as Americans to hold all of these tortures to account. We should not approve of preventing the public from hearing about the actions of the past and present administration. This man is obviously being prevented from speaking due to his expertise on a subject Obamaco does not want raised.
It’s scary that the govt. silences voices of knowledge and dissent. Should we raise our voices against that?
First of all my perspective is from a position of damage control. There is good and bad done to this country by its leaders. The bad is always easier to recognize. Nobody reads a newspaper for good news. So, again, the lesser of the two evils is Clinton. She is evil but then the American system of government is evil, dysfunctional, and no more democratic than that of Russia. America is an oligarchical nation with some exceptional momentum from the right direction. If one reads the newspapers, all the newspapers, it is not rocket science to recognize a vastly higher degree of intelligence on the left. There is a myriad of flaws on the left but nowhere is there to be seen leaders and prospective leaders as stupid as Bush and Trump. Trump could have won this shortly after he started if he had the brains to see that step one is to get their attention, which he did in a talented and clever-not intelligent but clever-manner. Step two is to move on from step one. Trump has blown the whistle but he has yet to leave the station. His, lauded by some, attitude of laughing at all and everything through openly lying and refusing to engage is really all he has exhibited.
Obama may be a, whatever you wish to call him, but he is intelligent and has done a yeoman’s job of pulling this country out of the mess created by Bush. Now, many Americans want to try that stunt again.
In order to increase the credibility of our leaders we have to elect a better quality of person than Clinton and Obama. However, we cannot elect idiots like Bush and Trump. The change has to start by first petitioning the government to restrict campaign financing to a nominal amount from each citizen, perhaps $100.00. Then and only then will the people have a say.
Issac,
Obama hasn’t walked back Bush’s policies. He’s put them on steroids. If you don’t believe this I’d like to refer you to a series of carefully researched articles by Danny Haiphong, dissecting Obama’s actions while in office. They can be found on Black Agenda Report. http://www.blackagendareport.com
I have noticed that liberals account themselves and their “leaders” far superior in intelligence than the officially labeled right wing. This is truly a mistake and it has cost our nation dearly. Because this type of vanity is affirmed by the propaganda all around us, it has rendered liberals willing supporters of totalitarianism. Here is another link outlining what has gone on during the reign of Obama:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/08/the-tyranny-of-911-the-building-blocks-of-the-american-police-state-from-a-z/
Totalitarianism is very much supported by both right and “left” in this nation. Obama is giving you one more prime example of his authoritarian policies. We ignore such things and we have no chance of stopping this.
While I am not sure what Trump’s stance is on torture, he thinks Snowden should be executed. Snowden and other whistleblowers defy the power structure. Trump likes power so I am not convinced he thinks well of Kiriakou.
Trump is a Washington outsider (which people find attractive), but he still strikes me as a statist.
He is fully in support of torture Prairie Rose and has talked about how he would specifically like to water board people he deems “terrorists”. “Trump advocates waterboarding and ‘much worse’ to battle terrorists”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/06/29/donald-trump-istanbul-airport-attack-hillary-clinton/86504460/
He says he “loves” waterboarding.
Lovely. Forgot about that statement. Ugh. 🙁
Vote No Confidence or None of the Above in November.
I am not playing the Elite’s game anymore.