Imperial Presidency

Obama’s abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism

"President Obama has been unprecedented in his use of the Espionage Act to prosecute those whose whistleblowing he wants to curtail. The purpose of an Espionage Act prosecution, however, is not to punish a person for spying for the enemy, selling secrets for personal gain, or trying to undermine our way of life. It is to ruin the whistleblower personally, professionally and financially. It is meant to send a message to anybody else considering speaking truth to power: challenge us and we will destroy you. Only ten people in American history have been charged with espionage for leaking classified information, seven of them under Barack Obama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism

Obama cancels meeting with Russia’s Putin over Snowden asylum

"President Barack Obama is cancelling his planned meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for next month in Moscow, an administration official said on Wednesday. The Obama administration has repeatedly expressed disappointment after Moscow granted asylum to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, rejecting U.S. pleas to hand him over to face espionage charges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama cancels meeting with Russia’s Putin over Snowden asylum

Obama Denies Domestic Spying But He’s Wrong

"Obama on the Jay Leno show said 'We don’t have a domestic spying program.' He said 'What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an e-mail address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.' Obama is incorrect. The XKeyscore program of the NSA spies on everyone. 'A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.' It’s not the only program of the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Denies Domestic Spying But He’s Wrong

Obama: ‘We don’t have a domestic spying program’

"Obama said the programs were critical to counterterrorism work. But he said more needed to be done to assure Americans they were not being spied on themselves. 'We don’t have a domestic spying program,' he said. 'What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama: ‘We don’t have a domestic spying program’

Obama: Persecution of LGBT people violates basic morality

"President Barack Obama on Tuesday night condemned Russia and some African countries for persecuting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. 'I’ve been very clear that when it comes to universal rights, when it comes to people’s basic freedoms, that whether you are discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, you are violating the basic morality that I think should transcend every country,' he said on NBC’s The Tonight Show with host Jay Leno. 'And I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama: Persecution of LGBT people violates basic morality

Glenn Greenwald: Embassy closings looks like a conspiracy to silence NSA debate

"Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Monday suggested that President Barack Obama had ordered 19 U.S. embassies in the Middle Easy closed not because of a legitimate terror threat, but to silence a debate on recently-revealed details of National Security Agency (NSA) data collection programs. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said that the embassies had been temporarily closed after the NSA learned of a terrorist plot. Speaking to Democracy Now‘s Amy Goodman on Monday, Greenwald observed that the Obama administration may have shuttered the posts just to stop discussion about his reporting." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Embassy closings looks like a conspiracy to silence NSA debate

Yemeni Engineer Begs Obama to Stop Murdering His Family with Drones

"Last year, Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, a respected Muslim cleric in Yemen, gave a speech denouncing al Qaeda. Representatives from Al Qaeda came to speak with Jaber and his cousin in a private meeting. During this meeting, they were all incinerated in a drone strike by the United States. Jaber’s brother-in-law, Faisal bin Ali Jaber, has written a letter, distributed by human rights group Reprieve, begging Obama and Hadi to stop killing innocents in these drone strikes and warning that they are making enemies of the very communities they claim to be trying to protect." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYemeni Engineer Begs Obama to Stop Murdering His Family with Drones

Senator Schumer: Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully

"A senior Democratic senator said on Sunday that the U.S.-Russia relationship had become 'poisonous' and urged President Barack Obama to consider moving next month’s Group of 20 summit away from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Charles Schumer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to antagonize the United States by granting American fugitive Edward Snowden asylum for one year. 'President Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully,' Schumer said on the CBS television talk show 'Face the Nation.' 'In my experience, I’ve learned unless you stand up to that bully, they ask for more and more and more.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenator Schumer: Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully

John Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

"After nearly two years of rocky relations, Secretary of State John Kerry went to Pakistan to begin to repair ties between the US and its ally. Pakistani officials were outraged over the impunity of US drone strikes in the Muslim nation and RT's Erin Ade has more Kerry's comments regarding the matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning

"Ellsberg, then an analyst with the RAND Corporation, leaked a study of U.S.-Vietnam relations from 1945-1967, known colloquially as the Pentagon Papers, handing over the document to newspapers. The release of the Pentagon Papers proved politically embarrassing for President Richard Nixon and the Watergate break-in, which eventually led to Nixon's resignation, was part of a broader White House effort to identify the source of such leaks. Ellsberg was eventually charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy, but the charges were later dismissed, unlike the case of Army Private Bradley Manning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning