The Obama Administration and the Press

Leak investigations and surveillance in post-9/11 America

U.S. President Barack Obama came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise. Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press. Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists.
Source

Grab a a beverage of choice prior to checking out the article, it's a lengthy in depth chronicle of the relationship between President & Press going back to 9/11.

Having just digested the contents, I come away pondering if it isn't our elected who have instigating this tightening noose of information on the activities of the Executive branch, the efforts to have folks within the classified arena to keep tabs on their own, instill fear into potential whistleblowers / reporters for somehow exposing wrongdoings in DC..

Waste Fraud and Abuse blowing of whistles is ok, I guess they don't consider bending/ breaking laws to be part of that deal..

If it isn't our elected pulling the strings, who is? I don't think it's a huge leap to look towards the monster that is the NSA. Now, where does the NSA get their marching orders?

That is the question, one that we may a diverse opinion on, I don't know who, but I certainly don't think that they are being directed by those the citizens elected to represent the country.

Troubling times IMHO.. Can this be stopped?

reply to post by JacKatMtn

I think the tipping point will be when the fence-sitters get off their butts and join the realists who rightfully distrust this administration and the federal government in general.

The left in particular have some very good investigative journalists who have capabilities and access that the right does not have. Their help is critical to the exposure of the magnitude of the deceptions that are being perpetrated on the American people and the world.

reply to post by greencmp


I think it's a bit more than just having the left leaning media increasing their efforts, they are already some of the most vocal on the clamping down by this administration, I think it's going to take a lot of strong souls within the web of the current Nat'l Security apparatus to keep blowing the whistle to activities that violate the rights of the citizens of this nation.

I do think that there are options for the Wash Post, and the Guardian to publish the information they have in a faster timeline, than piecemealing it over a long period of time. If there are more serious examples of our government conducting business in shady ways, the public needs to know now.

we have gridlock in DC over most issues, it should raise eyebrows when long time serving Reps and Sens on both sides of the aisle, stand together to defend the recent revelations on the NSA wiretapping deal..

Who are they protecting, and what is their endgame plan that is currently underway.

If striking fear into fed employees, have them in snitch mode against one another, an NSA that feels justified to gather every bit of electronic data they can, you can add in the implementation of the ACA where massive amounts of private personal information will be privy to numerous federal agency at the click of a mouse.

Very troubling scenario, when dots are connected as to a potential outcome/ goal of the events post 9/11.

reply to post by JacKatMtn


There's always been this sort of thing going on between the press and the Oval Office. It's about access. If you're constantly "harassing" the President, you can count on not being invited into the Sanctum for that interview.

Not saying it's right, it's not... But it's really nothing new.

reply to post by seagull


I strongly disagree that what the press is experiencing is "status quo", or something that has been going on for a long time, too make that assumption resets the bar as to the press' ability to expose a government out of control..

Take a look at the JFK speech from the 60's on the responsibility of the press, that was a time when the government still had a strong respect for the rights of the press, JFK was asking the press to take national security into their thought process when printing investigative reports.

Today? no such request, it's more a threat with a promise of prosecution if they don't follow the desire of the government.

Big difference IMO...

JacKatMtn
reply to post by seagull

 

I strongly disagree that what the press is experiencing is "status quo", or something that has been going on for a long time, too make that assumption resets the bar as to the press' ability to expose a government out of control..

Take a look at the JFK speech from the 60's on the responsibility of the press, that was a time when the government still had a strong respect for the rights of the press, JFK was asking the press to take national security into their thought process when printing investigative reports.

Today? no such request, it's more a threat with a promise of prosecution if they don't follow the desire of the government.

Big difference IMO...

I have always believed that effective investigative journalists are constantly risking their freedom by exposing unflattering or flatly criminal official behavior. It is or should be a very dangerous line of work.

This self preservation excuse simply doesn't fly when defending lackluster performance in the pursuit of their stated profession. I would draw a very loose parallel with the behavior of domestic police, I expect them to take a bullet from a criminal before shooting back. They are supposed to be public servants not summary executioners.

That is the definition of defending public interests, to hold the rights of citizens before considering their own hides. It is in that sense that I always (perhaps inappropriately) understood the term '4th branch of government'. Not as an additional protector of state interests but, as supplemental checkers against abuse of power.

reply to post by JacKatMtn


First you have to understand the Media. They are Left Leaning.

They have no moral compass, and real Journalism is dead for the most part when you talk about Mainstream.

They carry the water for this Administration. When it comes down to leaks, they are only reporting what was leaked to them, and are told "how" to report it. "How" to spin it.

People eat it up. They cant bother to do their own investigations, look into things further then whats in front of them. With the internet, it really isn't that hard to do. The info is out there. You just have to weed past the BS.

S&F

seagull
reply to post by JacKatMtn

 

There's always been this sort of thing going on between the press and the Oval Office. It's about access. If you're constantly "harassing" the President, you can count on not being invited into the Sanctum for that interview.

Not saying it's right, it's not... But it's really nothing new.

Read the article. Read other articles. It has never been like this. This is so far past extreme.

reply to post by jjkenobi


I don't know if you're old enough to remember Daniel Ellsburgh? I'm barely old enough to...

The Roosevelt administrations battle with the New York Times during WWII? Though that was wartime, and a slightly different case...

Please understand, I don't like it anymore than you. But it's not a unique situation. The fourth estate and the govt. have always had a love/hate relationship, adversarial if you prefer. I'll agree that it's never been quite this bad, with reporters being threatened with jailtime in a never ending chain, or worse (if you believe the rumours).

Govt. thrives on secrets, it's the way it retains its power. The fourth estates job, though they sometimes seem to forget it, is to ferret out those secrets, especially if there is wrong doing involved... It's natural enough that the govt. should resent that, especially when there is wrong doing going on.

Again, not right, but understandable.

That's why it's up to us to not allow this to happen. It always comes down to this, the citizens have the responsibility as citizens to raise our voices in protest when we see things like this.

reply to post by JacKatMtn


I think far too little is made over the undeniable fact that the current administration is very brazen and vold in touting themselves as "the most open and transparent administration ever" while simultaneously being status quo to GWB's transparency policies at best, far, far more obscuring and secretive at worst. It is very much like a small child swearing they didn't eat a candy bar while they still have chocolate smeared all over their hands and mouth.

The problem is the media doesn't call them out on their crap. We live in a world where media and politics are tied so closely into an incestuous relationship, it is often difficult to tell where one stops and the other starts. Former politicians are paid huge bucks to become talking heads on cable news channels, media personalities are hired by administrations for big bucks to become press secretaries and pundits, and media conglomerates donate massive sums of money and provide major free platforms in exchange for "fireside chat" style sitdown interviews with their primetime "news" programs. The conflicts of interest regarding any news channel actually breaking a negative political story of merit is outlandish.

Even FOXnews, enemy #1 of the left and considered Obama's worst enemy in the news realm, has a history of playing with kid gloves to appease him. A couple of years ago when FOX was trying to get Obama on Bill O'Reiley's show they preceded that appearance with almost 2 months of Obama ass kissing by all of their personalities, including Hannity. It was disgusting.

JFK was asking the press to take national security into their thought process when printing investigative reports.

That is an excellent point however I think we can all agree that a much different America was being governed then. Add the fact the Jack Kennedy and his brother considered themselves outside/above the law when it came to issues of payback. Fidel Castro, Jimmy Hoffa, Johnny Roselli, Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante just to name a few-there were many more!

I just don't have much of a problem with all this. My opinion is that the executive branch needs to do what they need to do to protect Americans. I guess if I was a young man of 25 and just starting out in business with big goals and dreams I might find all this domestic spying business to be more troubling than I do now. I think that feeling is widespread as those of retirement age-or approaching it-just don't feel like they have anything to hide. Most people I know subscribe to the comment "I don't give a flying f*uck what they do as long as they leave me alone" And of course in the South "Don't mess with my guns"

reply to post by JacKatMtn


I will first admit that I did not read all of the article. I did read most and think that I found the most salient points.

The first that comes to mind is this. . . .

Mach·i·a·vel·li·an
[mak-ee-uh-vel-ee-uhn] Show IPA

adjective
1.
of, like, or befitting Machiavelli.
2.
being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli's The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described.
3.
characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty: He resorted to Machiavellian tactics in order to get ahead.
noun
4.
a follower of the principles analyzed or described in The Prince, especially with reference to techniques of political manipulation.
Also, Mach·i·a·vel·i·an.

dictionary.reference.com...

The second thing that sprang to my mind was the machinations that took place during the Cold War in the former USSR.
The same manipulations, control, obfuscation appear to be occurring.

*Curse you for making me think this early in the morning!