“We’re out for scalps.” That’s what a senior Justice Department official told me when I asked what was behind the Obama administration’s unprecedented number of leak prosecutions. The “we” referred to federal prosecutors, but the official said the desire to see leakers punished extended to the White House, as well. The official, who also made it clear that reporters who talked to sources about classified information were putting themselves at risk of prosecution, asked not to be quoted by name.The use of the DoJ for manifestly punitive measures against the press, to an extent not pursued by any prior president (even Bush 43), should be grounds for concern by Americans who believe we have a right to know what our government is doing.
This is not a liberal/conservative issue; this is a good-government issue. All presidential administrations... all of them... bend or break the rules all the time, doing favors for friends, sending business their way, giving them advance information about administration plans, trying to make their opponents look bad in press and media, etc. Without leaks, Americans have no hope of knowing about these abuses of government power; with leaks, there's at least a hope. A government without leaks is a government free to be as totalitarian as it wishes. And that is, to all appearances, the kind of government Obama has in mind. Please read the linked post for details. They are unsurprising, but you need to confront them.
Would Rmoney be any better? Silly question... of course not. Rmoney would unhesitatingly throw the whole White House press corps in jail on the mere suspicion that one received a leak. Draconian responses are the M.O. of the Republican Party, and Mittens is about as uninspired, uninspiring and unimaginative a Republican as you'll find.
But I cannot offer Obama more than my personal vote, and that mainly because he is less evil on women's rights. I cannot offer him my endorsement. The oh‑dash‑it‑all of hope has arrived, and my hopes are suitably dashed.
Steve, 23 Democrats just shot down Gillibrand's Food Stamps bill. This is beyond the last straw. Obama is not the lesser evil. It makes no difference now. Ralph Nader was an oracle ahead of his time.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was an amendment to the farm bill but it still stinks. Can't we find more than a couple of Dems with balls? Big agribusiness wins again...not that this farm bill joke will see the light of day.
ReplyDeletekarmanot, I could still change my mind, but Rmoney's likely effect on women's rights is too depressing to contemplate, so I'll probably vote for O. That doesn't mean I like him, or approve of him, or even want him as president; it just means that there are a couple of issues that predominate over all others in my book, and I vote accordingly, strategically, however distasteful I find the candidate.
ReplyDeleteOh, and karmanot, Ralph Nader is one of the single most destructive individuals in American society in our time. He has done more harm to more causes than practically anyone else, period. The sooner he STFU, the better off we'll all be. Ralph Nader me no Ralph Naders.
ReplyDeletefallenmonk and karmanot, in fairness, in the Senate, of the 6 amendments on which Food Democracy Now! took a position, we won 4 (Chambliss, Durbin-Coburn, Merkley, Brown) and lost 2 (Gillibrand, Tester). IMHO that's a decent record in this age of corporate domination. We do what we can, and go back for the rest next time. As you say, this farm bill may go down anyway.
ReplyDeleteWomen's rights is a major argument, as is health care. Successful corporate fascism can only survive with a viable civil safety net. Obama will maintain the bare minimum, if Pelosi's enchantment with the Simpson Bowels Act is any condition. I don't believe Romney he will be elected, but then I said that about Reagen and Dubya. If he is elected there will be finally an open manifestation of the civil war that is brewing.
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