Of course President Obama should pardon Edward Snowden — and Chelsea Manning, too.
But this story is not about the excellent reasons for thanking rather than locking up the two most famous whistleblowers of the post-9/11 era. Plenty of people are already calling for that in powerful ways. A new petition on Snowden’s behalf has been signed by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey as well as Steve Wozniak, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aragorn (also known as Viggo Mortensen). Organizations coming out in support of a pardon for Snowden, who is currently a political refugee in Moscow, include the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. And Oliver Stone has just released “Snowden,” a movie that emphasizes his good and patriotic intentions.
But the unfortunate truth of our times is that Obama is not going to pardon Snowden and Manning. His administration has invested too much capital in demonizing them to turn back now. However, there are other leakers and whistleblowers for whom the arguments in favor of pardons are not only compelling but politically palatable, too. Their names are Stephen Kim, Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, and Thomas Drake. All of them were government officials who talked with journalists and were charged under the Espionage Act for disclosures of information that were far less consequential than the classified emails that Hillary Clinton stored on her server at home or the top-secret war diaries that David Petraeus shared with his biographer and girlfriend. Petraeus, a former general and CIA director, got a fine for his transgressions. Clinton got a presidential nomination.
Consider this: Kiriakou, a CIA agent who criticized the agency’s use of torture, was thrown into prison because he provided a journalist with the name of one covert officer, although the name was never published. Kim, a State Department official, pleaded guilty to talking to Fox News reporter James Rosen about a single classified report on North Korea that an official later described as a “nothing burger.” Sterling, a CIA officer, was convicted of talking to New York Times reporter James Risen about a botched operation against Iran that went wrong because of bungling by the agency. Drake, who worked at the NSA, faced multiple felony charges after he talked to a Baltimore Sun reporter about fraud and abuse in a bloated surveillance program. All of them went to prison except Drake, who was able, in the end, to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, though he lost his job and security clearance and now works at an Apple store.
There is an imperative to apologize to Kim, Sterling, Kiriakou, and Drake that has nothing to do with justice (though justice should be sufficient incentive). It is possible that a crackpot grifter will be elected president of the United States in seven weeks time. Obama needs to start dramatically disavowing the excesses of his presidency, so that Donald Trump, if he wins in November, will not be able to use the continuity card to do even worse things with the excessive powers that Obama was able to arrogate for the Oval Office. (Trump would still do terrible things, of course, but he would at least have a harder time citing Obama as precedent.) One of the most insidious domestic legacies of Obama’s presidency is his unprecedented crackdown on officials who talked to journalists about embarrassing issues or policies the government wanted to keep secret — and this needs to be forsaken, now.
It wouldn’t be that out of character. The Obama administration has been admirable in the use of its powers to reverse or stop wrongful actions by state and municipal authorities. Earlier this month, the administration suspended construction on the North Dakota Access Pipeline because it violated the rights of Native Americans. In recent years, the Department of Justice has conducted scathing investigations into civil rights abuses by a number of police departments, and has extracted meaningful changes from many of them. Fairness for all has been a hallmark of these laudable moves, and the same standard should be applied to leakers and whistleblowers. If Petraeus and Clinton are allowed to get away with unauthorized sharing of classified information, it should be OK for lesser officials too, especially when their actions involved the exposure of government wrongdoing.
Instead of just correcting the errors of other branches of government, Obama should admit that his own administration made a terrible mistake by prosecuting good people who helped, rather than harmed, the cause of democracy. If pardoning Snowden and Manning requires more courage than the president possesses, he can at least show clemency for Kim, Kiriakou, Drake, and Sterling, who have suffered catastrophically. Pardons would clear their names and release Sterling from prison (he remains behind bars to this day). The fact that Trump has the instincts of a dictator makes it all the more crucial that Obama not hand him the powers and policies of one.
Top photos: John Kiriakou, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Tom Drake, Jeffrey Sterling, and Stephen Kim.
Just wondering, is The Intercept recommending that the administration pardon Snowden in advance of a trial or after a judge decides on a verdict?
You do realize a trial would be a joke, of course, utilizing the antiquated 1917 Espionage Act. BTW Johnson said tonight he would Pardon Snowden.
Not necessarily.
According to the law, Snowden is a fugitive from justice in Russia, and Russia is not exactly an American ally.
Likewise, Section 793 of the law is rather interesting when applied to the Snowden case. This section makes it an offence to take, retain or transfer knowledge “with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation”.
What programs did Snowden leak?
1)PRISM, which raises obvious Fourth Amendment and civil liberties concerns
2) A shitload of other legitimate foreign-intelligence operations aimed at foreign targets, such as NSA monitoring of IP addresses belonging to the Chinese military, of Russian officials during certain trade negotiations, NSA spying on the government of Brazil, Swedish efforts to assist US espionage against Russia, NSA efforts in Pakistan, British surveillance of the G20, NSA operations in Latin America, France, Norway, Somalia, al-Qaeda’s efforts to counter US drones, tapping the German chancellor’s phone, and spying on the Mexican government, for example. None of these programs pose any Fourth Amendment questions. Are we supposed to let Snowden off the hook for these leaks just because PRISM is the only program the most of the public and the press care about? Likewise, what are the odds that Johnson will win the election?
So, you would still be in favor pardoning Snowden in advance of a trial? That seems problematic.
It’s not okay to lie (explicitly OR implicitly).
It is wilfully obtuse to pretend that the US government might conduct a fair trial. Even the charge itself is flagrantly dishonest.
The US government is perfectly aware that Snowden was not working for another country, yet that false accusation is implicit in the false charge.
Likewise, YOUR dishonest implication that Snowden chose to live “in Russia, and Russia is not exactly an American ally,” is a crudely dishonest attempt to support that false charge.
1) Everyone knows that Snowden didn’t CHOOSE to move to Russia. He was stranded in the Russian airport, during transit, due to the actions of the US government.
2) Everyone knows that if Snowden had been foolish enough to seek refuge with a US ally, then he would have been in prison years ago.
3) If everyone DIDN’T know those things, it STILL wouldn’t be okay to LIE.
Do you work for the government? Your lack of integrity seems formulaic.
Americans have every right to know that the money that is forcibly taxed from them – and the debt that is non-consensually chained to them – is spent to undermine their own security.
Americans’ rights have become PURELY theoretical, and the US government feels no obligation to be honest, or even coherent.
Your “shitload” has resulted in no harm whatsoever, and in most cases, no surprise whatsoever. Even with the full force of the American empire focused on trying to play the victim, the US government has failed to find so much as a skinned knee that it can attribute to the actions of this heroic American.
Pardon ALL whistleblowers who expose criminal behaviour (or gross incompetence, or any other wrongdoing). Stop punishing socially responsible behaviour.
Which, charge, exactly is dishonest?
Actually, I never claimed that Snowden “chose” to live in Russia; the only reason Snowden is stuck there is because the US government revoked his passport. Nor did I ever claim that Snowden was working for a foreign intelligence service.
Also, the US government charged Snowden with “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.” It did not, in fact, charge him with espionage on behalf of a foreign power.
(http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/edward-snowden-complaint-unsealed-093181)
Again, the VAST MAJORITY of Snowden’s leaks dealt with foreign-intelligence operations aimed at foreign targets. A simple reading of the leaked Snowden documents bears that out.
Also, you claim that Snowden’s leaks have resulted in “no harm, whatsoever.” How do you know that?
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/dont-listen-to-edward-snowdens-supporters-his-leaks-have-been-a-gift-to-terrorists-10307959.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-snowdens-leaks-hurt-america-2013-7
https://www.rt.com/news/224563-al-qaeda-guide-snowden/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/16/islamic-state-al-qaeda-are-big-fans-edward-snowden/
http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-using-information-leaked-by-edward-snowden-2015-7
And why not let Snowden get a trial? His efforts to expose PRISM seem vindicated, given the response of the court systems and the USA Freedom Act, for example. Likewise, are you advising that the government ignore Snowden’s leaks of legitimate foreign-intelligence operations that raised no Fourth Amendment questions?
Also, American rights have become “purely theoretical”? What? I guess that’s why the NSA operates under the scrutiny of FISC, the IG, the AG, Congress, the Civil Liberties Protection Officer, keystroke audits, the NSA’s “buddy system,” the whistleblower channels, and the media.
How does my describing facts indicate a “lack of integrity,” exactly?
I found your first question sickening. You basically asked me to repeat everything I’d just said, while explaining to you that the charges you referred to were laid under “The Espionage Act.”
By the time I got half way through your second sentence – where you imply that you don’t understand what “implication” means – I took some time to consider whether I should read the rest.
Ultimately, I had asked a question and I wanted an answer to it, so I read on, despite my expectation that you wouldn’t answer it, and despite my presumption that if you did answer it, you would almost certainly lie.
I read on, tolerating your unsurprising reliance on deliberate obtuseness, all for the sake of an answer to that ONE QUESTION.
I tolerated, “How do you know,” that 1) The US government has been trying to identify any harm that it could possibly blame on Edward Snowden since the moment it found out what he did, and, 2) The US government would have stated (and overstated) any harm it could possibly find.
I tolerated the even more simply stated, “What,” in response to the fact that Americans’ nonexistent ‘rights’ are standing in the way of NOTHING that is being, or has been, done to them.
No thinking human being could possibly tolerate your third-to-last paragraph. You are a monster. The Espionage Act precludes a “public interest” defence. It doesn’t even require the government to show harm.
Predictably, I reached the end of your salad of exclusionary focus and wilful irrationality, without an (explicit) answer to the ONLY question I ASKED.
You wrote that “It is wilfully obtuse to pretend that the US government might conduct a fair trial. Even the charge itself is flagrantly dishonest.” All I was doing was asking you to clarify. And you have not actually addressed any of my points.
Sickening indeed. Expressing a reasoned opinion apparently makes me a monster. OK, then.
Lol.
You’ve bothered to reply – despite having nothing at all to say – just to NOT answer the ONLY question I ASKED.
Again.
I had plenty to say. And the only question you asked was whether I worked for the government, which I don’t, and which has no bearing on the merits, or lack thereof, in your opinion, of what I previously posted.
The “War on Terror,” was designed to amplify and intensify terror, in a traitorous racket that leverages terror, to rob Americans for the profit of weapons manufacturers, while misusing America’s military to rob other countries of their resources for the profit of oil companies and other industrial marauders.
Conversely, this war on INTEGRITY really is designed to conquer integrity.
So, Clinton jeopardizes national security in far worse ways than these whistleblowerss AND she does it to cover her own ass, most likely to cover her bribes to the Clinton foundation from entities lobbying her state department. Then, we see the FBI hand out immunity deals to underlings involved like candy and fail to prosecute her even though whistleblowers are serving jail time on a fraction of her allegations with FAR less proof. And, your big conclusion is Obama must seek to right his tyranny of persecution because Donald Trump will do terrible things?!?! Wth?! Trump is awful however this tyrannical abuse has come from Dems and protectionism against all reason of law and logic has been for Clinton. The implications of HER continuing these abuses to make policy and appointments for bribes and then seek to punish anyone who reveals those crimes should be the big worry. She has been revealed to be far the larger danger in this area, she is not mentioned, but fear Trump? Doesn’t meet the logic test and is a prime example of how the media fear minders around Trump on issue after issue where Clinton’s policy and behavior have been demonstrably worse. Something serious wrong with media taking this angle, and it reveals a deep seated bias. Clinton is more dangerous than Trump, she will be the more effective evil and the bias in the article shows why. (That and the fact that the most frightening neoconservative power players align with her and not Trump)
First of all, thank you Mr. Maass for having the guts to say what the MSM doesn’t.
Secondly, has Hillary Clinton read this article? Obviously not.
She had the nerve to suggest that Edward Snowden should have sought refuge under the whistleblower act. She is either completely stupid or an imbecile that got her law degree with a lot of cheat sheets.
Only US Govt employees are “entitled” to seek protection under the act, not contractors. Had I been a defendant seeking counsel, she would be the last lawyer I would have chosen.
For Steven Kim and some of the others mentioned in this article: How did the whistleblower “protection” work out for you?
And ANYBODY wonders why Snowden chose the path to Russia.
A presidential pardon as a pure act of humanity is hard to believe, while a pardon as an exchange for unpublished Snowden achieve is not an impossible thought.
Our Government should not give any breaks to the people who commented these acts of treason against our government, and I have been on the wrong side of the government and did my time. As a whole these people have made our country look weeker to the other Countries we are up against, these people thank the did good, that they are heroes but they are not, airing out our dirty laundry on a International scale is very shameful, and does not give that person the right to go against our governments policies and give to other countries for monitory gains even though they say thay have not gained any.
Lemme guess-you’re a big second amendment person?
There is no sense appealing to what Obama “should” do. He does what Wall St tells him to do, with a smile and a song, knowing his clan will in a few months join the Clintons in the jetsetting global financial parasite class.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/21/investing/wells-fargo-fired-workers-retaliation-fake-accounts/index.html
And this is exactly why Snowden went to the Media as opposed to “going through channels” when it comes to whistle-blowing.
Whistle-blower ‘hotlines’ are just hot enough to get you fired.
These people are hero’s of the highest order, we should honor them not persecute them. We should take the politicians and try them for treason, yes take them, even if we must fight the politicians paid off assassins, we must fight them tooth and nail, show them where honor belongs and where horror begins. To fight and die in the service of a person of honor is the highest calling, people seem to be willing to die for the gods they cannot know or see, but, when it comes to a national hero, they cringe? Why is this? Ask the Politicians, paid off as they are, if they support the truth teller’s like Snowden and Assange, etc., if they say no then they are proven by their own conviction that they are our enemies and of the worst sort. Of course most of the people we have in America today have no idea who these national hero’s are so we here are alone in this battle and I think we cannot win. Nevertheless, for the courage we have seen from our hero’s we should show some courage and write, at least, a note to the Leadership. We should say: your name forever is forgotten, you are a scum not a person, and, you will never know immortality. Know this, the day will come when your off spring will urinate on your grave, spit in your face, hate you and deny you, for you are the coward of all cowards, a disgrace to humanity, a scum and a scorn to humanity in all the world.
“..Just Edward Snowden…” ??? Like changing “Black Lives Matter” – to: All lives matter? – Which the banksters have already pulled by proxy.
Black Lives matter is so huge, so much more prescient, than “All lives”. FOCUS. Weigh historical significance. Leave no wiggle room for the sociopathic corporate elites to change the subject. Rights of passage for the bankster zombies are: Obfuscation. Divide and conquer. Berate the messenger. I recommend sticking with a Snowden pardon. If the other true patriots, like Manning and others get a helping hand, too, great. Our right to privacy and anonymity is on the line. No time for grandstanding for anyone, without keeping focused on the true enemy of our Democracy – hate.
ALL whistle blowers get destroyed and discredited. The only difference is if we didn’t have high level posts, we also get IGNORED. Nobody gives a damn about us – we are what I call the “New Jew.”
Imagine that.., the federal government conducting two dozen investigations under Obama into civil rights abuses by local law enforcement agencies. If one were to only listen to the rhetoric coming out of Soros-funded groups like Black Lives Matters, one couldn’t help but conclude that racism is systemic in nature. Surely this investigative trend must be unique under a black president. Oh wait, it appears that this number of civil rights investigations is not exceptional, rather “the number is roughly equivalent to those launched under the previous (Bush) administration.” Well then, the investigations must have been uniquely effective because the Obama’s justice department was “more likely to seek court intervention or monitoring by a third party” to affect change on the local level.” Wrong again! The cited article suggests that federal investigations are effective simply because they are “politically embarrassing for police and city officials.” In fact, the very case that was cited as a model of resolution didn’t require court intervention at all. Rather the creation of a Citizen Complaint Authority – that was armed with subpoena power – was all that was required to affect positive change.
For those of us who have lived long enough to remember the role that the federal government played in advancing the civil rights agenda during the 1960s, such interventions seem tame in comparison. This is not because the federal government is more timid today, rather it is because the nature of racism has become far more discrete and far less significant as America matured. The integral, self correcting nature of the US constitution has allowed for changes within American society whereby the enlightened, egalitarian aspirations of its founding fathers have become evermore fully realized in time.
“…the nature of racism has become far more discrete and far less significant as America matured…”
… you say, as Hatey the KKKlown rides the racist elephant to the doorstep of the White House.
The “discrete” racists, who have been doing great harm all along (but who apparently don’t bother YOU) have been overtaken by entirely-indiscrete-racists, who violently reject even the appearance of tolerance. They portray “political correctness” as a burden (or as close to a ‘burden’ as they’ve ever known), and they portray flagrant race-based blanket-denigration as the natural order of things.
Presumably, that’s what the I’m-not-racists intended when they aimed so indefensibly low. The I’m-not-racists promoted nothing more than ‘tolerance’ for people who look different than them; never ‘respect’ for all people.
The same low aims can be cited regarding the institution of ineffectual measures like enforcing selective word-suppression, rather than engaging in a robust and consistent refutation of racist denigration. White supremacist terrorists have been radicalizing, recruiting and organizing, without impediment, all along.
I expect you’ll want examples: White supremacists routinely bait each other with mischaracterized statistics that are generated through racist policing habits, which disproportionately stop, search, slander, harass, assault, and falsely accuse non-white people.
Disproportionate (and malicious) policing produces disproportionate arrest statistics. Those deceptive statistics, which, in reality, are evidence of racist policing practices, are presented to white supremacist sympathizers as evidence that non-whites are more likely to be criminals.
That maliciously (and brutally) engineered lie is aided by an integrity-shy court system that is openly biased in favour of the police to start with, but to make matters worse, perversely incentivizes false confessions, as a matter of habitual procedure, by holding people who maintain their innocence, but freeing people in exchange for guilty pleas.
Throughout what you seem to have perceived as some sort of golden age, white supremacists have freely (and publicly) promoted their agenda, using language that was apparently ‘discrete’ enough to keep YOU happy.
Racism has become “less significant” only to those who have spent a lifetime perfecting the art of denial.
Yes I do… and I am still waiting. it appears that you have intentionally misinterpreted my post for the purpose engaging in straw man arguments. Let’s begin with my central thesis that the nature of America is such that we have been able to steadily (not necessarily uniformly) evolve toward an egalitarian (Lockean) ideal of equality for all men. In order for this to be true, the claim of systemic racism must be false. Instead of addressing that thesis, you decide to primarily focus on an American subculture that, by its very nature, is largely disorganized and separatist in nature – much akin to that of the Nation of Islam or Black Lives Matters. Yet you seem fixated on residual pockets of “white” racism. I have already acknowledged that discrete pockets of white racism exist in American society. Beyond their common racial overtones however, these pocket do not emanate from a single source or reflect a collective mindset that is endemic to the culture at large. Yes, there are varying degrees of racism in state and local law enforcement agencies across the country and in the military as well. And yes, the quality of record keeping varies widely as well. Such variance can lead to statistics that mask a degree of the racism that actually exists in any given area. Likewise, intractable racist and/or authoritarian attitudes can lead to pockets of selective law enforcement that include “stop and frisk” and/or profiling of minorities. Thus there is a need to highlight these issues when they violate the rights of any Americans. The fact that state and local law enforcement agencies are being routinely confronted by federal agencies for civil rights violations speaks to the degree to which the US government is committed to the goal of racial equality.
All of this said, white and black supremacists are entitled to their beliefs under American law. It is the price we pay for living in a relatively free society.
I explicitly rejected your wilfully delusional “central thesis”.
Cramming more labels into your incoherent pretense isn’t going to help.
The question should be , why aren’t Politicians, Judges & Bureaucrats being prosecuted ? Only after the members of our 3 branches of Government are prosecuted should there be a trial for Mr. Snowden, after all they committed their crimes long before he blew the whistle on them ! ! !
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I – CRIMES
CHAPTER 13 – CIVIL RIGHTS
§ 241. Conspiracy against rights
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any inhabitant of any State, Territory, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured – They shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results, they shall be subject to imprisonment for any term of years or for life.
§ 242. Deprivation of rights under color of law
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any inhabitant of any State, Territory, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such inhabitant being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results shall be subject to imprisonment for any term of years or for life.
“For the purpose of Section 242, acts under “color of law” include acts not only done by federal, state, or local
officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official’s lawful authority if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties,. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim. ”
Torture is also a crime under International law, the US has signed Treaties to that effect !
Time to hold these CRIMINALS to account, so lets take back America people, it is up to us FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN & GRANDCHILDREN !
Wake up people, Democrats or Republicans,Tories or Labor. Liberals or Conservatives it’s two sides of the same evil coin it’s called Fascism. So the next time a politician asks for your vote, support or money just say no & vote for an independent candidate. Send a message they can’t ignore & will understand ! ! Both parties have been complicit in this criminal activity. Democrats & Republicans don’t decide elections Independent voters do so now is the time to elect independent candidates ! !
Money in politics equals corruption, reduce the money you reduce the corruption ! We don’t need the worst politicians money can buy, we need politicians that money can’t buy ! It’s time to remove the Corporate Congress from office & take back America !
The whole point is to expose this Election Shame for what it is . We need to divide & conquer Democrats & Republicans instead of them providing the American public with false choices, Its time to remove the Corporate Congress ! !
If you take away their power then you can take away their toys !
The Government will continue its PR & propaganda campaign using the following tactics as quoted by Joseph Goebbels during the 1930’s & 1940’s.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” AND
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”
You have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide .
Joseph Goebbels Nazi propaganda Minister. Where have you heard that before ?
The following link is a must read ! This is not the Future. This is the here & NOW !
http://1933key.com/US-Empire/US-Patriot-Act-Compared-to-German-Enabling-Act
See also : http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/05/spying-meant-crush-dissent-terrorism.html
The supreme law of The USA is the Constitution, not the Patriot act the FISA act, or any other such acts that have unconstitutional provisions,are invalid & it matters not how many public officials say it’s legal, it’s NOT for the Constitutional Amendments say otherwise ! ! To say it is legal only shows the public their betrayal of the Constitution, their oath of office, and the American people.
No more lies, excuses rationalizations,or justifications, the public needs to hold these officials to account to the fullest extent of the law under Title 18 sec. 241 & 242 So any future traitors will know there will be consequences to such behavior. I hope the other five eyed nations have equivalent laws, but if not maybe it’s time to get some. Better late than never.
Don’t blame Snowden or the Press for the actions of NSA & GCHQ & our Governments, they are the ONLY ones responsible for the crimes they have committed ! ! ! See USC Title 18 Sec. 241 & 242 (Above). So why no arrest warrants for high crimes, but only for misdemeanors ? ? ?
High crimes = NSA + GCHQ + PUBLIC OFFICALS OF THE UK & US ! ! !
Misdemeanors = Snowden, Manning, Assange, lAVABIT
REMEMBER: POLITICIANS, BUREAUCRATS AND DIAPERS SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON.
Some words of true Patriots are as follows, as opposed to the words of false flag patriotism of bought & paid for professional politicians and bureaucrats of today.
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.
Benjamin Franklin
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin
Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson
Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.”
Thomas Jefferson.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.
Thomas Jefferson
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
James Madison
Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.
James Madison
The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
Patrick Henry
“We the People are the rightful masters of BOTH Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution”
Abraham Lincoln
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
We should not forget the warning of President Eisenhower . It has become the here & NOW !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqWfWxqh_0
The NSA is controlled & operated by the DOD & the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) Private Corporations.
“The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.”
President John F. Kennedy
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
April 27, 1961
As a reminder Hermann Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials .
“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
As is said in the law, falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. (“False in one thing, false in all things” is an instruction given to jurors: if they find that a witness lied about an important matter, they are entitled to ignore everything else that witness said.)
Time to start removing the corporate Congress from office & defunding the NSA to pre 9-11 levels & force them to
comply with the law & impose jail time for non compliance under USC Title 18 Sec. 241 & 242 (Google it) or see above .
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
Benito Mussolini
The short version of the above is as follows:
Any Government or Party that doesn’t abide by the Constitution does not deserve our respect or support ! ! ! They are traitors !
Unaccountable power is absolute power, & is absolutely corrupt !
Disclaimer: Be advised it is possible, that this communication is being monitored by the National Security Agency or GCHQ. I neither condone or support any such policy, by any Government authority that does not comply, as stipulated by the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Well said gezzerx.
Vote independent for president and ALL congressional races.
Margaret Sullivan thumbs her nose at the Wapoo Editorial Board. Good.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/as-a-source–and-a-patriot–edward-snowden-deserves-a-presidential-pardon/2016/09/19/dcb3e3f6-7e9c-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_story.html
And also in the WaPo opinion section:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/edward-snowden-is-the-perfect-candidate-for-a-presidential-pardon/2016/09/20/09c0bf80-7e9e-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_story.html?postshare=5141474373472843&tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.efa441fde673
John Kiriakou, while his prosecution was repugnant, is not a whistleblower. He revealed information about Bush’s torture program to defend the program and argue for its continued use; lied about his participation in the torture of Abu Zubaydah, and in the process misled the public about the effectiveness of waterboarding; and then, only when it appeared prosecution was imminent, did he begin to call himself a whistleblower. His revelations were significant, but they were tainted by his self-aggrandizement and lies. Unlike Manning and Snowden, he wasn’t clearing his conscience; he was cheerleading war crimes.
Clemency will not happen by the Obama administration for one simple reason.
Government never admits it made a mistake. In their eyes, EVERY action they take is correct. They believe themselves to be the flawless decision makers of the world. And they use the military/police to back up those decisions.
Well, Peter, I think [redacted] who would you [redacted] do that? FOIA [redacted] requests?
Good lord Peter, they [redacted] classified the ‘Ask Zelda’ [redacted] advice column.
Hope is a [redacted] thing Peter.
Just a note.
While it is possible that a hummingbird could somehow make
its way to China, it is very unlikely.
Hummingbirds are native to the Americas.
The Emerald Ash Borer is native to China.
Illegal immigration. It’s not just for humans anymore. :-s
p.s. I love me some hummers. Am sitting in the screened porch now watching them. :-)
Very sad that only the upcoming possibility of a Trump presidency is needed to persuade Obama to do the right thing.
Why do newspapers and media focus 90% on Snowden and forget that Manning is already rotting in a prison abused and mistreated?
You Intercept people make no exception. In this regard you’re just following the glamorous case.
Shameful.
No one here has forgotten Manning. In May Alex Emmons wrote about Chelsea’s appeal of her conviction.
In July of this year Murtaza Hussein wrote about the extra punishment Manning faced due to her suicide attempt.
In July 2015 Glenn Greenwald wrote announcing First Look Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation’s (a group founded by The Intercept’s Greenwald and Laura Poitras among others) matching fund donation for her legal defense, $60,000, $10,000 of which came out of his own pocket.
Greenwald has written about Chelsea for years here at The Intercept and elsewhere arguing that “Chelsea Manning is one of this generation’s greatest heroes.”
The only thing shameful here is the fact that you come here to level charges that re demonstrably untrue without even bothering to do the most basic internet search prior to putting fingers to keys. That’s not only shameful, it’s also dishonest and lazy.
Links for the above (posted separately due to the occasional issues the site has with multiple links in a single post):
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/19/chelsea-manning-appeals-unprecedented-conviction/
https://theintercept.com/2016/07/28/chelsea-manning-could-face-additional-punishment-for-her-suicide-attempt/
https://firstlook.media/news/2015/07/15/join-us-in-supporting-chelsea-mannings-legal-defense.html
https://theintercept.com/2015/07/15/matching-fund-donation-chelsea-mannings-legal-defense/
Well, that’s like asking why no Hollywood film was made about Chelsea Manning; all the current coverage and publicity over Snowden is due to the release of the Snowden film. Follow the bright shiny ball!
The larger issue is this: have the NSA’s domestic mass surveillance programs really been altered that much since the Snowden revelations? Or have they merely been shuffled around again with new names, as was the case after the revelations of DARPA’s Total Information Awareness programs back in 2002? Is NSA, in other words, still collecting everything over the domestic fiber optic cables, sniffing it for keywords without warrants, and storing any hits in their long-term Utah Data Repository for later searches?
Pvt. Manning needs to get an Honorable Discharge. There are lost benefits associated w/ other military discharges.
He’d never ever do it, not the person who held Manning in solitary confinement in a Marine Corps brig, with some kind of a rug for his only covering, not the person who watched as one of his drone missiles blew off the head of a 16-year-old innocent American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki’s son. Not that Obama, not in a thousand years.
There is an elephant in the room here.
Let me spell that out all CAPS:
!! JULIAN ASSANGE !!
I know it won’t do to mention him those days since he’s a russian agent running for Trump, especially since you would than be poised to drop a line or two about the DNC revelations in the process, which might kinda reflect badly on the overall partisan tone in here. You guys run for Hillary, right?
Jokin’, I know you do.
Your comment is probably bait, but I’ll bite.
How are they partisan? Anyone with the brain capacity to use the search function and look up “Clinton” and “Trump” will see that they cover both very critically. They did articles on the DNC leaks when they came out, and call out people regardless of their party affiliation whenever they overstep their bounds.
Anyone with the brain capacity to use the search function and look up “Clinton” and “Trump” will see that they cover both very critically.
Today’s early morning commenting Schtick seems to be all about groundless assertions. See the commenter above named for a fabric softener for another example of learned helplessness.
Apparently people only see that which supports their own prejudices and that extends to media sites because a cursory search yields a story on August 17 by Naomi LaChance about NPR host David Greene trying to get Assange to reveal his sources, a story on August 6 by Robert Mackey – who IS a Clinton defender – about Assange’s “War on Hillary Clinton” and anyone whose spent anytime at all reading Greenwald prior to the creation of The Intercept knows that he was one of the first to write about and support Assange.
Regarding the latter charge of the site being a shill for Hillary, other than Mackey, I’ve seen very little of that. In fact, Greenwald has written so many articles critical of her – but not exclusively her – that he’s been accused of supporting Trump.
These people fall off their little turnip trucks and bump up against the doorstep of The Intercept and think – with ridculously smug satisfaction – they’ve had a revelation concerning all wisdom regarding the establishment. It’s really kind of sad and puzzling.
Please excuse the typos and take the crankiness with a grain of caffeine (which I’m still working at absorbing).
This article by Maass is as much brainwashing as it is anything else.
The underlying message in this article is that the Obama administration
isn’t THAT bad and that there is a possibility that Obama could
reverse the fact that he has attacked more whistleblowers than
ANY other president ever because if he doesn’t soon do the
right thing that could be a green light to Trump and Trump
will be more monstrous than anyone else if he is elected.
This article is almost dismissive of concerns about how awful
Clinton has been and probably will be, if elected.
Trump and Clinton are both despicable “grifters,” but we
are being told to pretend that Mr. Maass has some amorphous
foresight
and that his Obama “should” crap is somehow credible journalism.
It is not. This article is wishful manipulation of people’s perceptions
wherein the real target seems to be Trump and the real message
is that the democrats are the better evil.
No doubt, Hillary would “approve this message.”
You must have missed Mona’s comment below taking him to task and his subsequent reply admitting it was wishful thinking.
I don’t see any of the Clinton-boosting you see, but maybe my goggles are fogged this morning.
I took this article as a segue/addendum to Greenwald’s wrt Snowden. An article designed to remind us, during this time of heightened Snowden awareness as a result of the movie, that there are still others who have provided immeasurable service to the country and sacrificed much as well. And seeing the comments on twitter – hell, even in this thread and the one under Greenwald’s piece – accusing The Intercept of ignoring this or that person, I’m not so sure that this article wasn’t a well-needed reminder after all.
As always, YMMV.
Also, too, I’m not sure why you would think that Hillary would approve a message telling the Obama administration – which she was a part of and whose foreign policy messages were revealed by whistleblowers – to pardon whistleblowers but…..ok. :-s
Yeah, my goggles are fogged.
I don’t disagree with that assessment of Trump, and can see that a logical conclusion might be that this is a statement in support of Clinton. If so, Charlene Avis Richards dealt with it ably further down the thread with this,
The fact that Hillary Clinton is a pathological liar and war criminal ALSO makes it all the more crucial that Obama not hand HER the powers and policies of one.
But I would encourage anyone dealing with this manichean approach to analysis to watch this interview with Greenwald to see how truly fucked we are and how one can comment on one candidate’s flaws without actually espousing those of the other, similarly heinous, one. You actually CAN think that both are overflowing bags of shite for the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3PUwSqnU8A&feature=youtu.be
Yawn. See, I’ve hadn’t have enough of caffeine to read that in one go. Not sure what you are ranting about.
So Robert Mackey’s piece is in support of Assange, yes?
And Naomi LaChance did interview Assange, or was it NPR host David Green, or that chick from Fox news?
Take a glance at Zaids piece on Trump cashing in on himself, well both actually, there is one about baseball caps and the other one I don’t remember the topic. Rock solid investigative work.
Funny you mention shills…
There is little journalistic work into the DNC leaks since nobody wants Trump POTUS, yet few call it it partisanship. Glenn is one of these who evoked the topic without rocking the boat, else he’d be working on the getting (another? too lazy to look it up, + only half a brain, but you fanboys would know) Pulitzer.
Kinda sad and puzzling.
Oh, say Pedinska, did you read that piece where Naomie LaChance picks up the disgusting skittle ad Jr. Trump committed the other day – BTW, expect Zaid to investigate wether that could somewhat benefit his daddy?
She tastefully compared Trump Jr to Hitler, who also liked this witty thought except it was applied to the Jews back then, in the in a move to inform all of us of the origins of that delightful statement. She also underlines that the sick mind was hanged during the Nuremberg trials. Maybe Trump Jr should be hanged, too?
Well- let’s not be too hasty, but let’s at least smear him thoroughly with statements just as vile, while lacking his naiveté, than have the fanboys call that balanced coverage and lack of partisanship.
When you thought they hit rock bottom, LaChance balances.
You skilfully evaded my point, while insulting me.
What you say might be true except for the “very critically” part. Now use that brain capacity you exclude me off and search for “Assange”.
Has it occured to you that I actually agreed that the U.S. should not be prosecuting Assange (which I do), and therefor did not address that part of your post? My “evasion” simply consisted of me saying that I reject the notion that he’s not included in this article simply because TI is partisan.
Don’t feel the urge to apologize? That’s ok.
It did not occur to me, no, since you said nothing in that regard. To me it looked like deception, but honestly I don’t really care about you or what you think.
Let’s just agree he should be on that list. I say the reason he isn’t on that list is partisanship, you disagree and offer no alternate explanation.
Why is JA he excluded from that list when he obviously should be N1 on there?
Julian Assange is not a US citizen.
That’s right.
Do you believe only US citizen deserve pardon? Or do you believe maybe Obama couldn’t do anything about it? I don’t see your point, but correct.
Mr. Maas. As a fellow watchman, I applaud your desire to seek protection for these whistleblowers who have helped reveal the inner workings and over reach of the very agencies that are meant to protect us. However, I believe your personal, more left leaning, political views are obscuring your perspective of current events. The Obamas, Clintons and Bushes are but Squad Captains for the same team, namely Team NWO. It’s a little like trying to find a viable search engine other than Google, just to find out that anything of any clout is owned by or runs on a Google platform…the illusion of choice. Despite your clash of values with Donald Trump, you are missing the fact that this “grifter crackpot” is the first independent citizen in, who knows how long, who has a real shot at winning and really taking the helm of the Presidency. Bernie was a powerful one-man-band, but The Donald knows the art of the deal and how to put together a team to make a power play. He has become a champion of those who desire to clean house of the thieves, traitors and foreign interests that have corrupted and sold out our Democracy. That is why the bought and paid for media and every Team NWO pundit hates him and spins every story against him. He has been labeled as everything “Deplorable” in our society and yet he keeps winning. Although he is a rich white guy, he is not an enemy of blacks, gays, legitimate citizens or peaceful Muslims. He is NOT Hitler. Yes, he has a big mouth, but his bravado is what got him to the table. Thank God he loves this Country, it’s Constitution and it’s Citizens. He’s a brawler who has the eye of the tiger. Don’t put your hope in Obama or Clinton. They are traitors, plain and simple. They work for Team NWO first and last. If the enemy of these Whisleblower’s enemy is their friend. Their best friend is Donald Trump.
Nice comment Watchmen, say what they will about Trump, he knows how to close a deal. He has enough where-with-all to influence local councilmen (and women) politicians etc. (not to mention local citizens) to bring new projects into existence, that create jobs. NO ONE else in this current debate is talking about the development of jobs in America. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate his naivety regarding “Globalism”. I’m sure he’s being brought up to speed on the nefarious, malevolence that is the globalist agenda. Anyone who defends the U.S. in defeating the globalists is a friend of mine. As far as whistle-blowers are concerned, they are the same folks I mentioned in the previous sentence. I am a realist when I say that a level of transparency MUST BE restored and or created within our democracy in order for US to survive and thrive. Kick out the lobbyists, corporations ARE NOT individuals and Sharia Law has no place in western civilization.
Great article here Peter I only wish your colleague Robert could be as intellectually honest when he writes his stories. On another note, being a political atheist it’s interesting to me how liberals have praised everything Obama has done especially with his overreaching executive orders and other power grabs and how the blind liberal patriotism to this politician will spell disaster down stream. Your point is well taken that all of the power grabbing Obama has done as well as condemning those which have illuminated average Americans to this tyrannical Orwellian surveillance state in which we live under will eventually be passed to the next president. Whatever your political affiliations or lack there of I believe it’s the duty of all Americans to restrict government of power and to stymy their every move in order to have a true free republic for all the people. Common since measures designed to keep those out of our country that hate us might be a good start and would require no new laws on the books. Denounce profiling if that’s your thing but require proper documentation for all incoming immigrants. If you have been affiliated with a jihad movement your not welcome, fought in Syria not welcome, killed your sister because she wore a skirt not welcome, would like to institute sharia law not welcome! You get the point. Just imagine if we actually enforced the laws on the books most if not all of this excessive surveillance would not be needed. However in the spirit of not offending the religion of peace “Islam” we put our citizens at great risk. Personally I would rather deny thousands of immigrants if it saved just one American. But I guess that makes me a racist biggot huh?
Just imagine if we actually enforced the laws on the books most if not all of this excessive surveillance would not be needed.
This is correct. The pivot from treating terrorism – whatever that word may mean – as a military, as opposed to law enforcement, problem was a critical nexus in the creation of the deluge of unexamined surveillance that followed. America has always been about spying, on everyone, but that’s when the leash really came off, imo.
However in the spirit of not offending the religion of peace “Islam” we put our citizens at great risk.
I’m not convinced that the above alone, nestled as it was in your other commentary, necessarily makes you a racist bigot. It does, however, make you uninformed. A Rand Corporation study titled, in part,
Initial Observations from a Statistical Analysis of Terrorist Attacks in the United States and Europe from 1970 to 2013
found that,
http://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE173.html
It has been shown in other studies that our risks are far higher for more commonplace things, but we are constantly exposed to that which the media deem more worthy of our attention. So we marinate in a toxic brew of negativity, as opposed to being truly informed about how these things really affect us.
If we were truly dedicated to reducing the amount of terrorism aimed at us, one of the first things we should do is stop bombing Muslim countries. Wouldn’t you want to attack someone else for killing your loved ones? That fact was acknowledged years ago – in fact, during the Bush administration, believe it or not – but the rest of the country has rarely heard about the Department of Defense study that produced that little nugget of common sense wisdom. So we go along worrying more about the imaginary terrorist that lives in our small communities and less about the fact that not caring for our teeth could produce kidney disease. It’s a strange world. :-s
The White House will probably float the idea of a Snowden pardon in journalistic circles (not meaning it, of course) just to get critics of Obama and Clinton who support Snowden to be less scornful of Dems.
Perhaps they already have…
Well, Peter, since it’s much more likely that Clinton will be elected than Trump, and since she is certainly not less likely than Obama to persecute, prosecute and otherwise torment whistleblowers. . . well, you get the point.
If only I had even the confidence that much were true. But the Republicans are the masters of dirty tricks and making deals with Islamic radicals, and it’s not even October yet.
If we had a less dangerous, deceitful and disgusting Democrat candidate, I might consider starting a rumor that the NYC/NJ pressure-cooker bomber is on the Trump campaign staff.
But we don’t and I won’t.
Of course, it would be just like Trump to fire the guy for not setting off big enough explosions and leave him broke and sleeping in doorways. ;^(
I agree – Clinton is likely to win; personally I think the establishment will do whatever they have to, including cheat, to get her into the presidency. Trump looks like controlled opposition to many.
Have you seen how lately Clinton’s slogan is ‘love trumps hate’? She’s trying to say she represents love!!!
The cackling monster who brought us “super-predators” and “we came, we saw, he died” represents love!
It’s hideous. America is so confused.
Eeuuwww! No, I hadn’t seen that, and if I have nightmares about it tonight, I’m blaming you, Maisie. ;^)
I’m pretty sure the establishment will, indeed, do everything and anything to usher the Wicked Witch of the West back into the West Wing. That definitely includes cheating, and Clinton’s awful, horrible, really bad performance recently could even make that necessary.
I don’t know if Trump is controlled. It looks to me as if a comic monster created for pseudo-reality TV has gone rogue and tapped a deep, wide vein of discontent, of which comfy folks in blue states are only dimly, if at all, aware.
It may take a brighter monster than Trump to ride that discontent to the White House, but a few more years of business as usual and it will be deeper, wider and bubbling even more furiously, ready for that new monster.
Basket of deplorables, indeed.
Have you seen how lately Clinton’s slogan is ‘love trumps hate’? She’s trying to say she represents love!!!
A Clinton supporter I now had me laughing about this. She couldn’t countenance it, even though I pointed out it came directly from the Clinton campaign. She said that seeing Trump’s name on a HRC sign turned her stomach. So it looks like that little experiment, like so many others of her campaign, is dropping like a lead balloon.
Doug, I saw those attendance numbers too. Couldn’t help but think he got what he deserved. He would have been so much better off taking his supporters over to the Green Party but he didn’t have the courage to go that far. So sad. A true opportunity for change horribly wasted.
I dunno, Doug, Nate Silver is ringing the alarum bell, frequently claiming Dems are in denial of the race having gotten so tight it’s neck-and-neck. I’m seeing frantic tweets about what “Hillary needs to do,” especially to reach young voters.
Well, it’s certainly true that Clinton has managed to blow a big chunk of a huge lead. But both the averages of the polls and the pundit consensus give her a likely Electoral College win.
As for young voters, she’s already reached them and they don’t like what they’ve seen and heard. Here’s how bad it is: Over the weekend, Sanders did campaign appearances for her at the University of Akron and Kent State. Total attendance for both was about 800 warm bodies. The kids don’t even wanna listen to Bernie shill for $hillary.
I agree with Doug that, for now and despite blowing a wide lead (this seems to be a pattern for her), she’ll still likely win. The concern we’re seeing in twitterland (and elsewhere) is because, in spite of her knee-jerk ground-kissers (Hello, Neera, Joan, Clara and Kevin!) she really DOES have responsible people running her campaign. They have to be more than a little alarmed at how this thing is evolving.
As for Nate Silver, it’s likely to be a long time til his scrotal nuggets re-descend after the shrapnel they took in the primary. Heh.
I could forgive a great deal of Obama’s sins if he pardons those “whistleblowers” he referred to as “critical to our democratic system”, when he was electioneering, before he went onto to screw them more than any president in history. I could rationalize to myself that he was a good but meek person who just transferred his “community organizer” skills to rallying the MIC and NSA because that surrounded him. He was just being one of the boys. More than likely this is the last completely pathetic hope of more progressive dems or left of dems that Obama is actually a decent human being, and it will be proved after 8 years of deceit. I put the chances of this outcome at 0.1% !!
What this piece needs is acknowledgment that there is a presidential candidate committed to pardoning all of them: The Green Party’s Jill Stein.
https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/776839342027190272
“Sterling, a CIA officer, talked to New York Times reporter James Risen about a botched operation against Iran that went wrong because of bungling by the agency.”
Where’s your proof of that?
If you mean the botched operation, read Risen’s “State of War.” CIA disagrees with it, but I trust Risen, a great investigative reporter.
I think what he means is Risen never revealed his sources, so what do you base the claim that it was Stirling who talked to Risen about the botched operation in Iran on?
How do you know Stirling was Risen’s source for that story, in other words? On the basis of the trial and conviction?
https://www.thenation.com/article/cia-officer-jeffrey-sterling-sentenced-prison-latest-blow-governments-war-journalism/
That trial was Kafkaesque at best; repeating the government claims without a qualifier hardly seems justifiable.
Better notion: James Clapper and Keith Alexander and Chris Ingliss and Michael Hayden should be arrested and charged with violation of the Constitution for domestic spying, and impeachment proceedings should be started to remove Barak Obama from office for unwarranted surveillance of the American people, also a Constitutional violation. Same for all the members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees that went along with the program. Furthermore, the Espionage Act of 1917 should be repealed, as it lacks basic due process issues (i.e. the ability of the defendent to present a justification for his/her actions).
Then, Snowden can return, and can be tried in a court under laws that allow him to present a defense, i.e his justification for theft of classified documents, in court; in the unlikely event that he is convicted, we can then discuss a pardon.
That would be the proper course of events, wouldn’t it? At the same time, let’s round up Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Wolfowitz, Woolsey et al. and transport them to the Hague to face war crimes charges for their lies about the Iraqi WMD program in 2003. There’s no shortage of evidence for that, either.
Peter, what in god’s name makes you think Obama would find this “politically palatable”:
Of course I’d love for him to do that, but the notion that he will is simply the stuff of fantasy.
Yes, but forCrookdClinton to continue!
You’re right, it’s probably wishful, but who knows, he could surprise us. I hope he does.
rich people who donated immense $$$ get “pardon”.
low level drug dealers also get “pardon” because Obama himself once bought from them.
meanwhile, the “too big to fail” bankers do not need “pardon” because they will never be prosecuted, let alone convicted. they are busy “donating” to Obama’s library and the Clinton Foundation.
this is the current sad state of the country and we have two options, Hillary or Trump. good luck!
Correction : crackpot “and” grifter…
Could someone help Mr. Maass get up to date?
Being a “crackpot grifter” has been a requirement for
democrat and republican candidates for at least 36 years.
Also, Clinton and Petraeus (and Obama) celebrate corruption.
They loath whistleblowers.
The revelations about Clinton and Petraeus were (probably) inadvertent
and they provided evidence of their corrupt arrogance,
which was/is very likely seen as admirable by Obama Inc.
So the author of the article is a corrupt, obama cocksucker. The intercept just keeps sinking lower.
I don’t really think anyone here is an Obama cock sucker as you imply…
Struggling to express yourself, are you?
Well, he did get me to look … apparently there actually *is* an American Cocksucking Championship, and they’ve had at least 11 events by now. There is something to be said for a sporting event where everyone wins. It would probably make a good property for Trump to buy, but he could have a hard time getting it aired on Telemundo.
I’d be happy if Snowden got a presidential nomination. He’d be a damn sight better than either of the two crims currently leading the race.
Stephen Kim, Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, Thomas Drake, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden have to be pardoned as apart of Trumps “making America great again.”
If any of the candidates most likely to pardon these Americans for being patriotic it would be trump.
Apparently you haven’t paid attention to what the orange-faced sociopath has said about this topic.
Nice try Peter Maass. .. but no cigar.
*now, put down that crack pipe … before you poke yourself in the eye \../
The Executive already has too much power, regardless of who Obama pardons – for example, Obama has now entrenched the unconstitutional arbitrary Executive dominion over deciding to go to war or not, and deciding to torture or not. It isn’t simply those he has pursued legal action against, it is also the framework of those who Obama has failed to prosecute (Wall Street securities fraudsters, Bush era torturers, oil-spilling BP etc.) that have also shaped the present diseased status quo of Executive power, continuing the horrendous tradition that the ruling class is really exempt from any substantial public discipline.
Obama is already somewhat of a dictator, waging wars where he has no business, murdering people with targeted killings, brutally force-feeding at Gitmo and militarizing the racist police force across America beyond Robocop dimensions. Thanks to his “look forward and not back” the next president can reinstate torture – it’s a mere policy choice! Clinton inheriting his ‘new normal’ for the presidency is just as threatening as the idea of “TPP” Obama not stepping down, let alone Trump getting in (in point of fact, Trump’s nonsense would at least be resisted by the establishment – no such buffer exists for Obama/Clinton corruption). The despicable meme that Obama has been decent is a matter of comparison with more arrogant evils, which disguises just how em>effectively evil the current president is in shaping the USA to the liking of multinational corporate interests and the military-industrial complex.
Anyway, all should vote for Jill Stein. Interestingly, she’ll even challenge the official story of 9/11 – which was the catalyst for the recent massive deconstitutionalizing of the state and overpowering of the Executive that is such a travesty.
presidential power…
ob signed the NDAA which authorised this turncoat for rendition american citizens to torture and murder in secret and with complete immunity. And he promised he would not do that.
He also promised to close guantanamo. Being the cammander in chief he failed to give that “genuine real 100% guaranteed can do” military command – the kind that generals take as an order. Nah, he couldnt even do that. What a conjob.
ps – the NDAA to rendition American citizens was authored by sen Carl Levin himself. He put that in there. Not john mccain.
You did the right thing dumping your boyfriend.
Don’t you ever let a man pat you on the head and tell you there’s something wrong with your politics. You are wide awake and you deserve someone who recognizes and cherishes that. Srsly.
“It is possible that a crackpot grifter will be elected president of the United States in seven weeks time. ”
So, either a Republican or a Democrat …
prescient.
Badabing! Good one.
Mr. Maass,
Did you read The President’s Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy?
Each outgoing president tells the incoming president that above all, he (or she) must preserve the accumulated powers of the President. It has been about a decade since I read the book, but I remember that point more than almost anything. In other words, the emphasis is my own.
For that reason alone, I do not think that Mr. Obama will rein in any of his executive overreaches. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.
I think it’s a great idea to spare the lesser-positioned government employees – aka whistleblowers.
In line with your specific mention of Petraeus and Clinton, I recently thought I would like somebody to ask Mr. Obama – as there was so much post-nomination (2008) discussion around bringing the Clintons into his administration – exactly how badly Mrs. Clinton embarrassed him.
It’s my fantasy that because of the personalities and dynamics of this election, President Obama was willing to suffer that embarrassment for the “good” of the country (and that he was seriously pissed).
” The fact that Trump has the instincts of a dictator makes it all the more crucial that Obama not hand him the powers and policies of one.”
The fact that Hillary Clinton is a pathological liar and war criminal ALSO makes it all the more crucial that Obama not hand HER the powers and policies of one.
Tuvm!
The audacity of hope.
Yeah. But in fairness to Pedro … how could any one have known behind Obama’s toothy benign demeanor, lies a cold heart of steel, meaner than a striped rattlesnake and more vindictive than a jilted lover?
“In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?” Barack Obama
Or as PT Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”.
Oh great one-
An interesting historical note to your first quote is that Barack had a mouse in his pocket at the time.
True story.
“…meaner than a striped rattlesnake…”
Rattlesnakes everywhere should take umbrage.
I’m sympathetic to a pardon for all these people. But especially if you pardon Snowden and Manning how will that not be a green light to everyone with a security clearance to release whatever he or she wants to release? And how will that not be the end of the keeping of secrets, including, presumably, secrets that should be secret (nuclear launch codes, names of agents abroad, etc.)? Does a presidential pardon not amount to a statement that the president thinks that everyone with security clearance should make his or her own decisions about what should be classified, thereby nullifying the whole idea of making some information classified?
If the whistleblowers are releasing information to journalists, as Snowden and the others did, it is up to the journalists to decide if it is in the public interest to share the information.
Perhaps all the “secrets” that are damaging to our Republic SHOULD be revealed to the American people so WE can decide who it is we want to “represent” us.
cool, i am 100% for TOTALLY DISMANTLING the police state and rolling up all the spooks, we would be INFINITELY safer…
He should also have the DOJ shut down the Grand Jury trying to hang something on Wikileaks and Assange, but I shall not hold my breath for that, or any pardon or clemency for those you mention.
I totally agree with this. Assange needs to be absolved, to the exent a pardon can, and be able to walk free.
Couldn’t agree more with this but not until after the election. No chance this should be done before and give more material for Bone Spurs and the lie machine.
Yes, this is what Obama should do – but the examples cited of how
all have this in common: they don’t impact the foreign policy agenda of the United States (with the possible exception of the Dakota Access Pipeline, intended to help export Bakken crude overseas). Instead, they are the kind of domestic social issues that Democrats traditionally champion, while pursuing the same kinds of militant imperialistic foreign policy agendas that Republicans do.
If we look at how the Washington Post editorial was written, it also hammers on this foreign policy agenda as the reason to not pardon Snowden:
I don’t think that’s a technically accurate description of PRISM, but the theme is the same seen in other Obama prosecutions under the Espionage Act – some kind of foreign policy exposure was involved in each case.
And this is the fundamental problem: the foreign policy agenda of the United States since 9/11 has been a disaster, both in Bush’s hands and in Obama’s, yet the Washington establishment – including Obama – absolutely refuses to admit this and is bent on continuing in the same path, both on the neoliberal and neoconservative sides (which, many have argued, are merging).
If we look at Obama promoting the TPP (not really for economic reasons, but as the basis of a ‘strategic-military pivot to the East’), if we look at brinkmanship with Russia in eastern Europe, the continued support of client states in the Middle East, holding on in Afghanistan for Central Asia, the AFRICOM agenda – that’s all threatened by the kind of exposures Snowden and Manning and Stirling were responsible for. So I’d be fundamentally astonished if Obama were to pardon them; I’d basically have to rethink my whole worldview.
This issue is bigger than partisan domestic politics; did it really matter whether the liberals or the conservatives were elected to power in Britain in the early 1950s, would either have stopped the final collapse of the British Empire? And would either side have pardoned British intelligence agents who exposed the interior workings of that Empire to the public? I seriously doubt it.
But I could be wrong. Surprise me, Obama, totally blow my mind, I’m looking forward to it!
“The fact that Trump has the instincts of a dictator makes it all the more crucial that Obama not hand him the powers and policies of one.”
So Obama is a dictator because he has not pardoned?
Nice one.
The critical issue here is returning to historic norms regarding the treatment of whistleblowers, not pardoning individuals.
Dictator’s thrive on the power to silence anyone who reveals the regime’s abuses, corruption, or incompetence. Obama has expanded presidential powers dramatically in this regard.
then #OBOMBA will adjust his karma so he may be pardoned
mr transparency hasnt got the courage or sense to do that. He would rather rob people of common ownership and democracy and say stuff like “i can rendition torture and kill US citizens in complete secrecy and with complete immunity but i wont do it, i promise, trust me.”. Maybe he is a closet sadist?