From Peter Suderman at Reason, Obama Administration Security Official: We Don’t Need to Subpoena Reporters Anymore Because We Already Know Who They’re Talking To:
Wasserman’s blistering indictment of the Obama administration’s hyper-aggressive pursuit of government whistleblowers, first delivered at April’s Logan Symposium on Investigative Journalism, is worth reading in full.
Investigative reporters are supposed to be the ones keeping an eye on the government. Instead, it turns out, it’s the other way around….
Wasserman, who is the Knight Professor of Journalism Ethics at Washington & Lee University, frames his argument as a challenge to the press to stand up to the administration’s attack on journalistic sourcing. I’d certainly like to see a lot more of that as well. But the bigger problem—the root problem—isn’t the press; it’s the Obama administration’s hypocritical and legally dubious pursuit of the leakers and whistleblowers that President Obama once praised and promised to defend.
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Comments
If one wants to get re-elected, one needs to not have any scandals in the news. Best way to do that is to punish whistle-blowers. Just a fact of life.
Wannabe marxist dictators do not have to worry about such things. Also a fact of life.
How would…say Fidel Castro…get all real supporters of a free Cuba to self-identify during the revolution…?
(Pretend he supported their integrity).
Pretty much straight out of “The Prince”, yes?
via Wired
Binney says Stellar Wind was far larger than has been publicly disclosed and included not just eavesdropping on domestic phone calls but the inspection of domestic email. At the outset the program recorded 320 million calls a day, he says, which represented about 73 to 80 percent of the total volume of the agency’s worldwide intercepts.
The former NSA official held his thumb and forefinger close together: “We are that far from a turnkey totalitarian state.”
Obamaware
It’s worse than you think. An idea is being bandied about that soon your choices about what food to eat or not or what sports to take up may be taken out of your hands to save the Government money for your health care.
This is already meeting more approval than I would’ve thought possible but some people aren’t capable of seeing past the talking points and we’ve lost our thirst for freedom and the willingness to pay for it with blood if necessary long ago.
First will be the folks on Food stamps. Republicans will be on board for this because hey we’re paying for it why should they eat the good stuff at our expense. Especially if they’re overweight and a potential health care burden.
Trouble is that slippery slope is paved with good intentions as next thing you know, your purchase may be declined if you try to buy what the health panels have decided is unhealthy for you and your getting government paid for health “insurance”.
Included in recent legislation for the financial sector was a section that allows the government to see every thing in your accounts and act on it. Without a warrant. so look for that purchase of those filets to be declined if you’ve had bypass surgery on the government’s dime.
Finally that skiing trip you were going to take? Yeah that’s off as it’s just too risky and you’ve already broken a collarbone last year so better you sit at home and play shuffle board but don’t watch too much tv. We don’t want you getting fat or anything.
Lastly, since so many inventive people will be looking for ways around these new laws and restrictions, every one will get rfid tagged so the government can track your every move in real time. Maybe drop a helicopter load of agents on you or a hellfire missile depending on if the drone operator has had a good morning or not.
Welcome to the New World Order Beeyotches. You brought it on yourselves by not being vigilant and suspicious.
Once upon a time, like before November, 2008, a story like this would have echoed through the newspapers and the blogosphere. It is absolutely amazing how willingly we’ve handed over our rights to be secure against unreasonable, unspecified searches (at the airport (TSA), on highways (cameras everywhere) and in communications) and it’s even more amazing that the left is nowhere to be found on this. Do they think they can fight for personal liberty only when it’s convenient?