Assange, the Feds, Russia, Tom Drake, Politics, Elections, and Hypocrisy

Below is an email I sent to a few of my family & a few friends, and my response to a friend's reply...edited a bit.  In particular, the last full paragraph of this Post was not in my email response at all.
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The War on Whistleblowers---

After saying during his first Pres campaign for election that they should be protected, Obama prosecuted more of them than anyone in our history.  Imagine what Trump's Crew will do to Assange.  While the Right & Left squabble, Plutocrats/Oligarchs win again.  Their war crimes will continue to go unpunished...all in the name of "safety".  Meanwhile, those who expose violations of the Constitution and outright crimes by the Gov't will be persecuted and prosecuted.  

Do a Search for: Tom Drake whistleblower.  Bush, Obama & Holder destroyed the career & much of the life of this American hero, a Vet, and an honorable Gov't servant who spent months trying to expose NSA wrongdoing by doing so "within the system".  The Powers-That-Be ignored & denigrated him, so he finally went outside the system to expose Gov't crimes.  They essentially kneecapped him.  Later, Hillary had the gall to state that Manning should have worked within the system, thus gaining the protection of whistleblower status.  What a tragic joke.  In her youth, Hillary was a Populist, but for some time now, she's been nothing but a multi-millionaire Plutocrat.  [Hopefully, she's washed up in politics.]

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A friend responded with a somewhat biting critique of Assange... especially relative to the last few years.  My reply is below.
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No one's perfect.  Despite his flaws, I think Assange is a hero.  After being cooped up in a building for 7 years, and denied safe passage to a hospital for needed medical diagnosis & treatment, who knows what anyone might do after realizing you're going to be arrested... and most likely extradited to the USA's totally broken Fed Justice System.

As to Russia, their misdeeds re the election merely are payback for all the crap our Gov't heaps on them... we've interfered in their affairs (including elections) for decades.  Sanctions, elections, Ukraine, NATO encroachment right up to their border (after it was agreed not to do that), & who knows what else.  As to the Dem email leaks, GOOD.  I think those were in the public interest--- exposure of the two-faced Hillary, and the manipulation of Primaries by the Dem Upper Crust.  The truth was exposed; too bad that the truth did not favor Democrats.  That's the fault of Dems, not Russians.

I really am sick & tired of hearing Dems whine about Russians "interfering in our elections".  What hypocrisy...and they're still complaining.  They should focus on the fact that two Plutocrats were running for President...correct that.  The Dems are just as bad as the Repubs when it comes to being self-righteous in terms of election behavior.  But the Dems gerrymander, too; the Dems manipulate Primaries, too.  Just because the Repubs are worse about it does not excuse Dem behavior... including their self-righteousness.

The article you sent implied that the charge against Assange was not really much...& not related to publishing.  Please.  He could get 45 years in prison according to a previous lawyer of his.  Plus, I don't see how aiding a whistleblower in getting info is not related to publishing that info.

As to Assange (an Australian) favoring Russia, maybe so; but unfortunately, our Gov't is a much bigger threat to the world than the Ruskies ever could be.  Not just militarily, but all across the board.  There's no doubt whatsoever about that.  I don't at all believe their Gov't Plutocrats are the "good guys"; but our Gov't Plutocrats (at the highest levels) are a gazillion times worse, and a monstrous threat to this planet...militarily, economically, financially, environmentally, politically (even though our NeoFeudalism is more subtle than Russia's), & in every other way I can imagine.

Conclusion:  all this braying about Russia is, to me, blatant HYPOCRISY... and way overblown... and finally,  a distraction from much more important things.  As to Assange, our Government's wrongdoings need to be exposed.  History shows that the State almost always tries to cover up its crimes by criminalizing those who expose them.

I love this Land; but we need to wake up to the fact that our Fed Gov't is led by a bunch of screwed-up, dangerous, plutocratic oligarchs...and that's no matter whether Republicans or Democrats hold majority power.  Another option is to keep drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid, bury our heads in the sand, and hope everything turns out okay.  Another option is to continue to believe (as the True Believers do) that only the Republicans or the Democrats have the right solution to our problems... in other words, to continue to believe the Propaganda coming from one or the other of those two camps.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Clinton is Either Ignorant or Lying...O'Malley Too

That's what Norman Solomon, documentary producer & long-time political activist, said on Democracy Now today.  I agree.  He was talking about her response regarding a question on Edward Snowden during the Democratic Debate Tuesday night.  Hillary essentially said that Snowden "could have been" a whistleblower "if" he had gone through the proper channels and gotten the "protections" provided to whistleblowers.

That statement by Clinton is either a lie, ignorance on her part, or a really bad joke.  Tom Drake, Jeffrey Stirling, and several others spent months going through the proper, internal channels with their whistleblowing.  All that did was target them for persecution, and then selective prosecution.  "Selective" because guys like David Petraeus only get a slap on the wrist.  Guys like Brennan, Panetta, & Clapper get NOTHING.

As Solomon stated (paraphrased), Obama's war against whistleblowers and journalists is unprecedented in our history.  Indeed.  Barack Obama is perhaps the most Fascist President we've ever had in the Oval Office.  Propaganda calling him "socialist" is just that---propaganda.  As I've pointed out many times, both FDR and Mussolini defined Fascism as:  the marriage of the Power of the State to the Power of Big Business.  That fits Obama to a tee.  Those who wept with joy at his election in 2008 must be the most disappointed voters in our political history.  They elected a Corporatist posing as some sort of Populist and/or Leftist.

Then, too, we had O'Malley of Maryland in the Debate stating that "whistleblowers don't run to Russia".  Again, ignorance, or a lie, or a bad joke.  Snowden was on his way from Hong Kong to Ecuador.  At the stop in Russia (or maybe in-flight from H.K.), the U.S. Gov't revoked his passport.  He then wasn't allowed to board the plane to continue his journey.  It always amazes me how politicians twist stories to suit their particular agendas.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Obama Administration Violates the First Amendment

In an earlier post, I related the story of Frontline's piece, "The United States of Secrets"... truly a MUST-SEE film for anyone who loves Liberty.  This past Sunday, 60 Minutes essentially re-told a portion of that same piece in a story entitled, "The War on Leaks".  It involves the current case of the NYT reporter, James Risen... a genuine American hero.  Risen, as well as Tom Drake and others (independently), revealed the illegal and unconstitutional spying-on-Americans scheme of the NSA.  In both films, Bush-Obama-Hayden are revealed as the propagandists, deceivers, and violators of the First Amendment that rival anyone in recent memory.  [Hayden is the guy who, at the behest of Dick Cheney, came up with a plan to spy on Americans that exceeded the Executive's authority.  They knew it was illegal, but didn't care.]

Relative to all this, here's how the highest levels of an Outlaw Fed Gov't operate:  they concoct and execute a completely unconstitutional, secret plan to spy---without proper warrants---on citizens of their own country, and then, when the scheme is exposed, they criminalize & prosecute the whistleblowers.  They make it illegal to expose the illegality of the Govt's actions.  Perfect...for them.  On top of that, We the People have to endure the wishy-washy, sleazy, weak-minded propaganda "justifying" it all... put out by the puppets of the Oligarchy.  Michael Hayden, former Head Honcho of the CIA & the NSA, is the worst example.  On second thought, Barack Obama may be the worst example... he has pursued and prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other Presidents combined.  That's according to 60 Minutes.  This is the guy who said he would protect whistleblowers.  [When Obama starts talking, about 50% of the time he's lying... and if you look carefully, you can see it in his eyes.]  Dubya Bush started the case involving James Risen, and Obama is pursuing it vigorously.  The propaganda from both Bush & Obama surpasses that even of Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton.

A Free Press is (or should be) inviolate in this country.  It really is our primary protection from corruption in government and loss of freedom.  Unfortunately, our present Fed Executive---like the one immediately before him---is waging an unprecedented war on journalism.  The case against James Risen is a prime example of that, as was the pursuance of Tom Drake.

I suspect that some people , perhaps many, feel there's nothing we can do about any of this.  That's simply not true.  It's not a question of "can we", it's one of "will we".  Though we live in a soft Fascist State, we still have considerable freedoms; plus, even in a dictatorship, public opinion matters.

The solution will not be found in "voting".  It should be obvious by now that these politicians essentially are all the same; they are selected, groomed, and financed by the Oligarchy.  Obama is a prime example.  [The very, very few who aren't puppets quickly are demonized and/or marginalized and/or eliminated by the Political Machine & the Corporate Media.]  No, "voting" is not the answer; it might be someday, but not now.  Ballot-access laws (among others) will have to be changed first... an almost impossible task.  Peaceful, nonviolent expression and/or protest and/or boycott is the way to have an impact.

As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Let your life be a counter-friction to the Machine.".  That can be done in many ways, not just by marching in the streets.  It can be done individually or in groups organized around just causes... or both.  It can be done by speaking up (and out) in encounters with Institutionalists, in conversations with anyone, in Art (including Street Art), in music, in boycotts, in writing... in all kinds of peaceful actions.  Use your imagination.  When the Pulse of the People is overwhelming enough, even Oligarchs pay attention.

Not just my opinion.  Be Well

The Deceivers Bush & Obama, and an American Patriot, Tom Drake

The primary source for this essay is the current piece on PBS Frontline titled, "The United States of Secrets".  It's the best, most detailed rendition that I've seen of how-why-where-when the Fed Gov't launched (via the NSA) its unconstitutional (& thus illegal), warrantless program of mass surveillance of Americans.  It also includes many interview clips with several people formerly in the Gov't who attempted to expose what the NSA called "The Program".  They tried first through proper Gov't channels, and when they were ignored, one of them became a whistleblower.  That was Tom Drake.

Mr. Drake was a dedicated NSA senior executive.  So was Mr. Edward Loomis... and there were some others... William Binney, J. Kirk Wiebe, etc.  They were appalled at what the Fed Gov't was undertaking.  Before getting into that, though, let's back up a bit.

The Program was conceived immediately after 9-11.  Michael Hayden, the Head of the NSA, was told by Bush-Cheney to come up with a Program to prevent another 9-11 attack.  Essentially he also was told to include tools that currently were not allowed by the Constitution or various Statutes.  He set to work doing exactly that.  It turns out that there was a program in existence prior to 9-11 that could monitor just about anyone..."ThinThread".  It had automatic, electronic"privacy protections" for American citizens.  The NSA stripped out those protections, thus ensuring that when The Program eventually was used, it violated the Fourth Amendment.  The justification by various Executive Branch, political appointee, puppet lawyers for its use was the Article 2 (of the Constitution) phrase, "Commander-in-Chief".  [Luckily, not being an attorney, I have some common sense and realize that the phrase cited does not negate other parts of the Constitution.  I think most non-puppet people know the same thing.]  By the summer of 2002, The Program was in full swing... doing something that never before had been allowed--- surveilling (without a proper warrant) American citizens, our phone calls, emails, financial transactions, credit card use, etc.  Literally TRILLIONS of individual bits of data.

Drake and the others were kept out of the secret loop at the NSA regarding The Program, but eventually it was leaked to them that their ThinThread Program had been altered and was being used in an illegal manner.  In addition, the major phone companies in the USA were turning over customer phone call records to the NSA.  Apparently, these words from the Fourth Amendment are not understood by the Executive Branch:  "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, PAPERS, and EFFECTS..." (emphasis added).  [In actual fact, I believe those words are understood by the Feds; they had/have another agenda--- expansion of Power in the U.S. World Domination Game, what Brzezinski once called "American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives".  From their perspective, 9-11 was a fortuitous excuse to run amok.]

Bill Binney, getting nowhere in the NSA with his concerns met with Diane Ruark, a top Congressional Staffer with 17 years of experience in the Intelligence field.  A "Conservative" Republican, Ruark nonetheless was extremely concerned that the NSA had "gone rogue".  She launched a campaign to inform Congress.  Of course, by then it was too late--- the White House already had brought Congress on board.  Oversight of the NSA was basically dead.  Porter Goss was Ruark's boss; he sent her to Michael Hayden, NSA Head.  He basically evaded her questions, but in a politically incorrect manner, she persisted.  Finally he essentially told her to mind her own business because he had authority for The Program from the highest level (the "Commander-in-Chief").  Keep in mind that she was on the Congressional Committee for Intelligence OVERSIGHT.  Checks and Balances in our Gov't, for all intents and purposes, were gone.

A few attorneys in the Executive Branch opposed The Program due to its unconstitutionality.  They basically were thrown under the bus, so to speak.  The Program grew, despite the fact that the Justice Dept. determined part of it to be illegal.  Because I don't have the time for all the essential details, I highly recommend that people watch the Frontline piece.  It is a feature-length film, but fascinating and well worth the watch.

Eventually, some knowledge of The Program reached the public.  Bush and Hayden were pretty much forced to say something publicly.  Both were deceitful; only a tiny part of the operation was justified... the part dealing with specific terrorist suspects.  The public was propagandized.  Bush eventually lied about warrantless surveillance of innocent Americans by an agency forbidden to spy on Americans.  A couple of dissidents in the Gov't attempted to get the story published in the New York Times.  Despite what the Right Wing in the USA thinks, the Times often kow-tows to the Feds.  They did.

A year later, a reporter essentially forced (see the film) the Times to reconsider.  Bush and Hayden tried to intervene; they were unsuccessful.  The story was published in December, 2005.  It "shocked the world", according to one commentator.  Bush again went public and again was deceitful about The Program; nothing was said about monitoring trillions of emails, phone calls, etc.  Hayden lied, saying, "Not a single employee of the NSA has expressed any concerns about...blah-blah-blah.".  [Hayden is known as a masterful propagandist... evasive, deceitful, and totally loyal to the Institution.]

Enter Tom Drake.  After four years of exhausting all in-house means of expressing concern, he contacted The Baltimore Sun and blew the whistle...anonymously.  All the documents he used were UNCLASSIFIED.  USA Today published another leak from a different whistleblower.  The Times came out with another story.  Cheney went crazy, that is, crazier than his usual.  He was determined to stop the leakers (of unclassified info).   A massive manhunt was launched by the FBI and it was led by Alberto Gonzales, former White House Counsel and then currently the Attorney General.  Long story short, the FBI raided the homes of several people (Binney, Wiebe, Ruark, Loomis, etc., pretty much destroying their careers), but found nothing.  They finally, six months later, got around to the home of Tom Drake.  They seized a trove of UNCLASSIFIED documents, and he was charged under the Espionage Act.  He faced possibly life in prison... for exposing Gov't unlawfulness.  The seized documents were altered... "unclassified" was crossed out and they were marked "secret".

As the investigation proceeded, the Govt's cases began to fall apart.  In 2008, enter Barack Obama.  "No more secrecy!"  Another quote: "The most transparent government [what his Administration, if elected, will be]".  "Whistleblowers are good for government; they will be protected by my Administration [if elected]." "No more illegal wiretapping of American citizens [if elected]."  Obama becomes President.  He continues The Program.  Prior to that, though, Bush reverses himself and decides he needs Congress to make The Program permanent.  His Administration pushes through an Amendment to the FISA law.  He claims it's "reform", but Intelligence insiders know that it gives the NSA unprecedented powers.  The Program is expanded, made worse from the standpoint of the Constitution.  The Amendment Bill had to be read extremely closely in order to figure out exactly what it said.  Insiders expressed the opinion that Congress had little clue as to what the Bill really said.  [Even if they had understood it, politicians seem to count on Americans being unaware of the fact that no law supercedes the U.S. Constitution.  The Fourth Amendment cannot be negated by any Act of Congress.]

Senator Obama supported the Amendment.  So even before he was elected President, the public should have had a clue that he was, at the very least, insincere in his campaign rhetoric concerning wiretapping (with no probable cause) of Americans.  At most, he was lying.

President Obama's Administration continued the case against Tom Drake.  So much for protection of whistleblowers.  Drake's career was over, his finances were decimated (because of legal defense expense), his life more or less trashed.  To get the whole thing over with, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor (they never had any espionage case) and received a minor fine and community service.

The Program continues to this day... a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, and "justified" by a law.  In the bizarro world of DC, apparently laws do supercede the Supreme Law of the Land.  Amazing.

Who cares?  Why is any of this important to Americans, especially non-political Americans.  Here's one reason why:  the whole scenario is Soft Fascism.  It violates our Constitution and our Rights.  It has been implemented by both major political parties, and there's little reason to believe that more of our Rights won't be trashed down the line somewhere.  As Lord Acton said long ago, "Power corrupts, and...".

Finally, our Gov't is doing this worldwide.  Particular Snowden documents have revealed that the NSA is even spying on the economic meetings of our allies.  That has nothing at all to do with terrorism.  We're losing any reputation we ever had as a great nation.  Worse, our Govt's NeoImperialistic methods are making enemies of people who once admired our country.  In their attempts to dominate the world, our Gov't is over-reaching... not only making enemies, but bankrupting us in the process.

I hope many of you watch the Frontline piece.  The content should inform and disturb you.  In any case, I salute Tom Drake and the other people in the film who tried, at great personal cost, to wake up both Congress and the public to our Govt's grossly unlawful activities.  Kudos to you all.  The same praise goes to Edward Snowden.  His story is in Part Two of the film.

Be Well