One of my biggest disappointments with Barack Obama is that he has continued some of the worse practices of the Bush/Cheney regime when it comes to spying on Americans and other police state tactics. Now, apparently greatly peeved that Edward Snowden showed just how pervasive domestic surveillance has become, the Obama administration has filed criminal charges against Snowden and seemingly wants to make an example of him as is being done with Bradley Manning. Or at least that's the view of gay journalist Glen Greenwald who helped break the story of what has really been going on in an article last month in The Guardian, a British newspaper. Talking Points Memo looks at Greenwald's assessment of Obama and what Greenwald calls a "vindictive mentality." Here are highlights:
The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald on Friday blasted President Barack Obama for filing espionage charges against National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying it reflects the administration's "vindictive mentality."
Greenwald, who broke the stories on the NSA's surveillance programs based on information provided by Snowden, told MSNBC's Chris Hayes that while the response was par for the course for an Obama administration that has aggressively pursued leakers, he rejected the notion that the 29-year-old former government contractor engaged in espionage.
“I think it’s very surprising to accuse somebody of espionage who hasn’t worked for a foreign government, who didn’t covertly pass information to an adversary-enemy of the United States, who didn’t sell any top secret information, who simply went to newspapers, asked newspapers to very carefully vet the information to make sure that the only thing being published are things that inform his fellow citizens but doesn’t harm national security," Greenwald said in a phone interview. "That is not espionage in any real sense of the word.”
Greenwald argued that the Obama administration is notorious for "overcharging," and that the charges filed against Snowden reveal an "extreme zealousness" and "vindictive mentality."
Sadly, I am inclined to agree with Greenwald. In the case of Bradley Manning, huge efforts have been made to punish Manning while little or nothing has ever been done to hold those accountable who engaged in the murder of civilians and other atrocities. Obama seems obsessed with keeping the truth about American misdeeds and government actions that may well be unconstitutional hidden from view. It's very, very disappointing.
No comments:
Post a Comment