The Serenity of Reason: The Republican Strategy for Resolving Disagreements

Friday, June 3, 2011

The Republican Strategy for Resolving Disagreements

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BAWDYSCOT said...: Daniel Ellsberg, other whistleblowers want Obama’s ‘transparency award’ rescinded
By Dylan Stableford | The Cutline – 20 hrs agotweet49EmailPrint

obama-suv

A large group of noted whistleblowers--including Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers--has written an open letter asking that the "transparency award" given to President Obama by five open government organizations in March be rescinded.

In the letter, published in the UK Guardian, the group of 50 individuals and watchdog organizations called the Obama administration's record on secrecy and surveillance "a disgrace."

The group claims that petitioners have filed more Freedom of Information Act requests made during Obama's first term--with fewer responses--than have been logged in previous years; that the administration has squashed "legal inquiries into secret illegalities more often than any predecessor" and "amassed the worst record in U.S. history for persecuting, prosecuting and jailing government whistleblowers and truth-tellers," including WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning. The letter also notes that the White House has refused to make its visitor logs public, while overseeing a 15 percent spike last year in budgetary outlays for classifying secrets. The Obama administration has spent $10 billion in enforcing secrecy protocols, the letter notes--the first time any White House has eclipsed that mark."Obama's department of justice is twisting the 1917 Espionage Act to press criminal charges in five alleged instances of national security leaks," the letter reads, "more such prosecutions than have occurred in all previous administrations combined."

The president "has set a powerful and chilling example for potential whistleblowers through the abuse and torture of Bradley Manning."

And:

President Obama has initiated a secret assassination programme, has publicly announced that he has given himself the power to include Americans on the list of people to be assassinated, and has attempted to assassinate at least one, Anwar al-Awlaki.

President Obama has maintained the power to secretly kidnap, imprison, rendition, or torture, and he has formalised the power to lawlessly imprison in an executive order. This also means the power to secretly imprison. There are some 1,700 prisoners outside the rule of law in Bagram alone.

The Obama administration is also busy going after reporters to discover their sources and convening grand juries in order to target journalists and news publishers.

One such case—the subpoena of author and former New York Times reporter James Risen involving a CIA leak—is still pending.

"Ironically—and quite likely in response to growing public criticism regarding the Obama administration's lack of transparency—heads of the five organizations gave their award to Obama in a closed, undisclosed meeting at the White House," the letter adds. "If the ceremony had been open to the press, it is likely that reporters would have questioned the organizations' proffered justification for the award, in contrast to the current reality

Our Imperial Presidency continues to strengthen. Ain't that grand.; June 16, 2011 at 8:49 AM
Skeet said...: So how is that hope and change working out? Read today his "misery index" is higher that George Bush, only lower than Carter.

Lets get the Nobel back while wear at it.; June 16, 2011 at 7:55 PM
BAWDYSCOT said...: We need to get Congress to take it's rightful place as the most powerful of the three branches. The Founders weren't enamored with the idea of one person with having this much sway. Republicans and Democrats won't do this because they see their chance at their party's gaining the Presidency.

We see some semblance of Congress waking up with this talk of Obama's illegal wars(Libya and Yemen)and the War Powers Resolution he is not obeying(the fact we have no troops on the ground in Libya(and who is to say we don't have some Special Ops or the CIA there right now, I bet there is)is a smokescreen as some bombs falling on Tripoli must say "Made in the USA" on them). This is looking more like Bush Jr II to me. With Obama stuck in the mud domestically he has to look to foreign policy to make his campaign for reelection and more and more this looks like more war.; June 17, 2011 at 11:34 AM
csm said...: Yes, the president is not living up to expectations. Sadly, none of them do...; July 8, 2011 at 12:18 PM

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