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Daniel Ellsberg, the now-79 year old man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, has an interview in Der Spiegel where he hammers President Obama for failing to live up to many of his promises and for being worse than Bush in some respects. He particularly goes after him hard on his prosecution of whistleblowers, something that is obviously a sensitive subject for him as one of the most important figures in American history to have blown the whistle on the government's lies during wartime. Here's that part of the interview:
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You doubt not only Obama's missions abroad but also his politics back home in the US. Why exactly are you accusing the president of violating civil liberties?Ellsberg: For instance, the Obama administration is criminalizing and prosecuting whistleblowers to punish them for uncovering scandals within the federal government ...
SPIEGEL ONLINE: ... Such as the arrest, confirmed this week, of an Army intelligence analyst for leaking the "Collateral Murder" video of a deadly US helicopter attack in Iraq, which was later posted online at WikiLeaks.
Ellsberg: Also, the recent US indictment of Thomas Drake.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Drake was a former senior official with the National Security Agency (NSA) who provided reporters with information about failures at the NSA.
Ellsberg: For Obama to indict and prosecute Drake now, for acts undertaken and investigated during the Bush administration, is to do precisely what Obama said he did not mean to do -- "look backward." Of all the blatantly criminal acts committed under Bush, warrantless wiretapping by the NSA, aggression, torture, Obama now prosecutes only the revelation of massive waste by the NSA, a socially useful act which the Bush administration itself investigated but did not choose to indict or prosecute!
Bush brought no indictments against whistleblowers, though he suspended Drake's clearance. Obama, in this and other matters relating to secrecy and whistleblowing, is doing worse than Bush. His violation of civil liberties and the White House's excessive use of the executive secrecy privilege is inexcusable.
He's right.
Politics
Comments
No worries, I may be worse than Bush in many respects but I still have Ellsberg's vote:
Posted by: Barack Obama | June 10, 2010 9:55 AM
The German public is now better informed regarding President Obama's record in the federal courts than the American public. [polemical hyperbole . . . maybe]
Posted by: Michael Heath | June 10, 2010 10:09 AM
To show their outrage the German public should stage a rally. That'll get America's attention.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | June 10, 2010 10:22 AM
Is there a German equivalent? It's surprising to me that Der Spiegel brings such an interview as they have gotten pretty neo-con over the recent years. In their German articles they repeatedly smeared Wikileaks, for example (child pornography charges etc.).
Posted by: Chris From Europe | June 10, 2010 10:25 AM
I got a call yesterday from someone at the DNC looking for money. I gave him an earful, but I wish I had known about this -- it would have taken pride of place. No looking backward??? Every rhetorical cover Obama uses for his failure to act on any part of the progressive agenda is falsified by his actual actions.
Posted by: xebecs | June 10, 2010 11:16 AM
It makes it hard to defend the guy when he ran on a campaign that would have seemed to want to reverse the damage of the period 2001-2009 but it seems he manages to hold on to the executive power grabs of the same period. And prosecuting whistleblowers while letting the torture advocates go free seems a mighty cruel twist.
Posted by: mark boggs | June 10, 2010 3:15 PM
mark boggs "And prosecuting whistleblowers while letting the torture advocates go free seems a mighty cruel twist."
Well, he is a Kenyan, secret Muslim, freedom hating, leftistcommiepinkomarxistsocialist.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | June 10, 2010 5:36 PM
I don't know if i fully agree with you on the army intelligence officer. How does it work when you are dealing with classified information? If he actually released those hundred thousand cables (I don't know if he did or not) I think that is blatantly illegal. The video on the other hand, while abhorrent is what I sort of expected when you invade a country and try to loose as few troops as possible. I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here though, that video was really disturbing and I'm glad it was leaked.
I think the question of what constitutes whistleblowing compared to, well treason, in military matters is a hard problem and I am curious to where people feel the overlap is.
Posted by: Scott Shannon | June 10, 2010 7:05 PM
@modusoperandi
So, given that Obama is a "Kenyan, secret Muslim, freedom hating, leftistcommiepinkomarxistsocialist" and he is continuing the horrible policies of the Bush administration, this can only mean one thing: Bush was a "Kenyan, secret Muslim, freedom hating, leftistcommiepinkomarxistsocialist", too. Who will tell the conservatives?
Posted by: mark boggs | June 11, 2010 12:08 AM
There's been remarkably little change of any sort in the executive branch. For someone who looks negro enough to give the Klan apoplexy, Obama shows remarkably little awareness of civil rights issues.
Is it too much to ask, for a president who actually feels a duty to uphold the constitution (remember that oath you had to do over, Mr. Obama?) rather than seeing it as an impediment to be evaded, or a nuisance to be flouted?
The constitution is not a set of niggling technicalities which make it difficult to do your job, it is your job!
Actual respect for the rule of law is the one change I wanted from this administration, and it's a change that has been conspicuous by its absence,
Posted by: Betrayed | June 11, 2010 12:10 AM
Scott Shannon @ 8:
So is violating the Constitution.
Scott Shannon @ 8:
Whistleblowing in defense of the Constitution is in no way equivalent to attempting to participate in the overthrow of one's government, which is what treason is.
Posted by: Michael Heath | June 11, 2010 8:39 AM
mark boggs "So, given that Obama is a 'Kenyan, secret Muslim, freedom hating, leftistcommiepinkomarxistsocialist' and he is continuing the horrible policies of the Bush administration, this can only mean one thing: Bush was a 'Kenyan, secret Muslim, freedom hating, leftistcommiepinkomarxistsocialist', too."
No. Dubya was a Real American™ who kept us safe, defended the Constitution and who kept us safe. When Obama does the same things he, on the other hand, is an elitist who kowtows to terrorists, shreds the Constitution and who kowtows to terrorists.
It's just simple logic, really. You'd make a shitty wingnut, moonbat.
"Who will tell the conservatives?"
*shrugs* They don't listen to us. That's for the best, really, as we don't have the time to spare, as we're frightfully busy hating America.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | June 11, 2010 9:25 AM
Is there anything Obama can do wrong? I see a lot of apologists for a wrongheaded policy. Whistleblowing isn't treason. Failure to follow illegal orders in the military isn't a crime. National security isn't an excuse, either - you can't just classify something naughty you're doing to make talking about it a crime.
Of all the things Obama is doing right, we need to shout just as loudly at the things he's doing wrong. This is one of those - he's flat-out wrong, and it should stop. Bitching and moaning about the horrible things his predessor did but not complaining just as loudly about our boy is not cool and stinks of Conservative hypocrisy.
Posted by: Cullen Tillotson | June 11, 2010 10:56 AM