Rescind President Obama's 'Transparency Award' now

Rescind President Obama's 'Transparency Award' now

www.guardian.co.uk

The Obama administration's record on secrecy and surveillance is a disgrace and should not be sanitised by unearned prizes.

On 28 March 2011, President Obama was given a "transparency award" from five "open government" organisations: OMB Watch, the National Security Archive, the Project on Government Oversight, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and OpenTheGovernment.org.

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Obama, the man of change, his key campaign word. First the Nobel price for peace and now another award for transparency? I am starting to think Obama is paying them so he can show off with his trophy case to his friends.

Bradly Manning... forgotten and abandoned by the masses. I wonder how often he thinks whether it was all worth the consequences. The very same man that did this dears to criticize dictators such as Gadaffi.

The Guardian has posted some interesting tidbits:

President Obama has not decreased, but has dramatically increased governmental secrecy. According to a new report to the president by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) – the federal agency that provides oversight of the government's security classification system – the cost of classification for 2010 has reached over $10.17bn. That's a 15% jump from the previous year, and the first time ever that secrecy costs have surpassed $10bn. Last month, ISOO reported that the number of original classification decisions generated by the Obama administration in 2010 was 224,734 – a 22.6% jump from the previous year (see The Price of Secrecy, Obama Edition).

• There were 544,360 requests for information last year under the Freedom of Information Act to the 35 biggest federal agencies – 41,000 requests more than the year before. Yet the bureaucracy responded to 12,400 fewer requests than the prior year, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

• Obama has invoked baseless and unconstitutional executive secrecy to quash legal inquiries into secret illegalities more often than any predecessor. The list of this president's invocations of the "state secrets privilege" has already resulted in shutting down lawsuits involving the National Security Agency's illegal wiretapping – Jewel v NSA and Shubert v Obama; extraordinary rendition and assassination – Anwar al-Awlaki; and illegal torture – Binyam Mohamed.

• Ignoring his campaign promise to protect government whistleblowers, Obama's presidency has amassed the worst record in US history for persecuting, prosecuting and jailing government whistleblowers and truth-tellers. President Obama's behaviour has been in stark contrast to his campaign promises, which included live-streaming meetings online and rewarding whistleblowers. Obama's department of justice is twisting the 1917 Espionage Act to press criminal charges in five alleged instances of national security leaks – more such prosecutions than have occurred in all previous administrations combined.

• The Obama justice department's prosecution of former NSA official Thomas Drake, who, up till 9 June, faced 35 years in prison for having blown the whistle on the NSA's costly and unlawful warrantless monitoring of American citizens, typifies the abusive practices made possible through expansive secrecy agreements and threats of prosecution.

• President Obama has set a powerful and chilling example for potential whistleblowers through the abuse and torture of Bradley Manning, whose guilt he has also publicly stated prior to any trial by his, Obama's, military subordinates.

• Obama is the only president who has reenacted Fahrenheit 451 by actually having his agency collect and burn a book due to a never-justified classification excuse: Lt Col Tony Shaffer's Operation Dark Heart.

• Under President Obama, the FBI has launched a series of raids and issued grand jury subpoenas targeting nearly two dozen antiwar activists. Over 2,600 arrests of protesters in the US have been made while Obama has been president, further encroaching on the exercise of first amendment rights.

• 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.

• President Obama promised to reveal White House visitors' logs. He didn't. In response to outrage over his refusal to reveal the names of health insurance CEOs he had met with and cut deals with on the health insurance reform bill, he announced that he would release the names going forward, but not those in the past. And going forward, he would withhold names he chose to withhold. White House staff then began regularly meeting lobbyists just off White House grounds in order to avoid the visitors' logs.

• President Obama has sent representatives to aggressively pressure Spain, England and Germany to shut down investigations that could have exposed the crimes of the Bush era, just as he has instructed the US justice department to avoid such matters. This includes his refusal to allow prosecutions of the CIA for torture, following a public letter from eight previous heads of the CIA informing him that he had better not enforce those laws.

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Mdv2


If this information here isnt enough for ALL Americans to want him out,then there truly is no hope for your country.

reply to post by Mdv2


Well next time a candidate campaigns on "change" someone will bother to ask what kind of changes..

You elect an "unknown" you get an unknown result..

reply to post by Mdv2


The only thing Obama does is do exactly what he's told to do. Getting rid of the puppet will do nothing to forward our goals. We need to tear down so much more. Trust me, they've got plenty of puppets just dying to be their mouthpiece. Obama carries no importance.

What do you mean? He is truely the most transparent leader the world has ever seen!!!




I MEAN ANYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN CAN SEE STRAIGHT THROUGH THE LIES AND BS ! YES/NO?

Can we also take back his Nobel Peace
prize now?

I just think it's a baldfacedley Orwellian thing to give any head of state a "Transparency Award." It would be funny if it wasn't, well, so not funny.

[/font]unappreciative, uncaring snivling 8 year olds. I think that President Obama is doing the best he can as a human since we're all imperfect. I know he get's tired of you snvling, complaining, backbiting, unappreciative 8 year olds... I know I would. I know that back in his heart he wants to make a great change but all you people in this system is complain about everything even if it's a tooth brush out of place. Don't you think he get's tired of you people complaining? I think you should keep your freakin mouths shut and let the man do what he has to do, you prejudice, ungrateful men of this system of things. Really only one person can really change this world to a perfect condition and it's the Supreme Being God!!!! Do you really BELIEVE????? I do and it will happen soon but in the meantime Keep your FREAKIN TRAPS SHUT!!!!! Now if you feel you can do better than go and put yourself up for election. SINCE YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS!!!!!!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE AND LET HIM DO HIS JOB.
Now the Transparent Award SHOULD BE GIVEN TO him because of the nights he stays up thinking of ways to change this unsatisfying earth. You people got me mad now cause you have no appreciation for nothing people do for you NOT EVEN your parents, wives, husband, children, or grandmothers are totally unappreciative of what people do for you within the family or outside. So no wonder you don't appreciate the President. Until the Supreme Being comes and makes this world into a better place that's pleasant to live, just hold on to your socks and let the President do what he has to do. But you've got to believe that there is going to be a better place than this and it won't be by Obama totally but by God himself. So pleeeeeease LEAVE OBAMA ALONE.

Originally posted by littlesasha
[/font]unappreciative, uncaring snivling 8 year olds. I think that President Obama is doing the best he can as a human since we're all imperfect. I know he get's tired of you snvling, complaining, backbiting, unappreciative 8 year olds... I know I would. I know that back in his heart he wants to make a great change but all you people in this system is complain about everything even if it's a tooth brush out of place. Don't you think he get's tired of you people complaining? I think you should keep your freakin mouths shut and let the man do what he has to do, you prejudice, ungrateful men of this system of things. Really only one person can really change this world to a perfect condition and it's the Supreme Being God!!!! Do you really BELIEVE????? I do and it will happen soon but in the meantime Keep your FREAKIN TRAPS SHUT!!!!! Now if you feel you can do better than go and put yourself up for election. SINCE YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS!!!!!!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE AND LET HIM DO HIS JOB.
Now the Transparent Award SHOULD BE GIVEN TO him because of the nights he stays up thinking of ways to change this unsatisfying earth. You people got me mad now cause you have no appreciation for nothing people do for you NOT EVEN your parents, wives, husband, children, or grandmothers are totally unappreciative of what people do for you within the family or outside. So no wonder you don't appreciate the President. Until the Supreme Being comes and makes this world into a better place that's pleasant to live, just hold on to your socks and let the President do what he has to do. But you've got to believe that there is going to be a better place than this and it won't be by Obama totally but by God himself. So pleeeeeease LEAVE OBAMA ALONE.

• It's peoples' right to be "unappreciative" as all government is a servant to the people, and we don't have to appreciate anything we don't like
  
• You have no idea of Obama's intentions or the goodness of his heart. He is a politician and anything you've heard in a campaign is most likely lies
  
• "Complain about everything" - what, like the terrible state of the economy, uncontrollable bankers, permanent wars, terrorising the country's own citizens? Should people just shut up and accept what's done to them?
  
• Yeah, I'll just go and put myself up for election and win next time. Just like that. No wait, first I have to lie to the masses, cheat and steal from people. No thanks, most normal people wouldn't want to go near that mess.
  
• Ok, we'll all just go sit in a corner, shut our freaking traps and sulk instead. Long live chairman Obama!
  
• How do you know he stays up nights thinking how to improve this earth? Just lol.
  
• I wasn't aware you had deep insight into all of our personal family lives, that's amazing!
  
• We can't have God but Obama is the next best thing you say? Ok.
  
• It's snivelling.
  

It's scary people like you can vote! Are you 8?

i have never in my life seen such a double standard when it comes to republican presidents and democratic presidents.

there has been no difference between bush and obama and yet one is loved and admired and exhalted as a savior and the other is shunned and condemned to the point he should be muderdered.

i am in favor of revokation of the following:

his nobel peace prize
his transparency award
his presidency.

obama has been and currently and will be the worst american president in this nations history and the history books have already been written and they are being taught in this nations schools as we speak the evidence speaks for itself.

a middle school poll of this countrys children people who were barely out of diapers and not even born yet decry bush as the worst president this country has ever had.

i am disgusted by my fellow countrymen who will never take off their rose colored glasses and who pushes that stupidity agenda.

Originally posted by littlesasha
So pleeeeeease LEAVE OBAMA ALONE.

You didn't make a Youtube video saying the same about Britney Spears by any chance ?

Originally posted by littlesasha
[/font]unappreciative, uncaring snivling 8 year olds. I think that President Obama is doing the best he can as a human since we're all imperfect. I know he get's tired of you snvling, complaining, backbiting, unappreciative 8 year olds... I know I would. I know that back in his heart he wants to make a great change but all you people in this system is complain about everything even if it's a tooth brush out of place. Don't you think he get's tired of you people complaining? I think you should keep your freakin mouths shut and let the man do what he has to do, you prejudice, ungrateful men of this system of things. Really only one person can really change this world to a perfect condition and it's the Supreme Being God!!!! Do you really BELIEVE????? I do and it will happen soon but in the meantime Keep your FREAKIN TRAPS SHUT!!!!! Now if you feel you can do better than go and put yourself up for election. SINCE YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS!!!!!!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE AND LET HIM DO HIS JOB.
Now the Transparent Award SHOULD BE GIVEN TO him because of the nights he stays up thinking of ways to change this unsatisfying earth. You people got me mad now cause you have no appreciation for nothing people do for you NOT EVEN your parents, wives, husband, children, or grandmothers are totally unappreciative of what people do for you within the family or outside. So no wonder you don't appreciate the President. Until the Supreme Being comes and makes this world into a better place that's pleasant to live, just hold on to your socks and let the President do what he has to do. But you've got to believe that there is going to be a better place than this and it won't be by Obama totally but by God himself. So pleeeeeease LEAVE OBAMA ALONE.

Yeah Right! Leave the guy alone who represents the decaying centre of the Constitution, Freedom and Democracy. Hitler had his merry way too.
Could you be any more naive ! People are suppose to have the Freedom to speak out about their elected Democratic Govt without being imprisoned or threatened for doing so. In the case of The US Govt and its out of control agenda of power over the people rather than for the people, its is far closer to a Totalitarian/Dictatorship than a so called Democracy.... Then btw, soldiers are dying overseas so that people in these types of political systems may know freedom and live in a democratic society. The Irony of it all !!!

why is the abomination still in the news, hope and change is more like death and suffering, he has finally given the verdict to the united states. he now knows he is a one term president. anything i missed, except for more lies

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by Mdv2

 

what kind of changes..

The kind that you can believe in of course.

And we'll make it work.

I am very surprised that the vote of no confidence has not been played.
The man is a fraud and is leading the world towards a very dark future.
My faith in the united states of america as being the world leading country dwindles as the days go by.