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US Government Monitoring Associated Press Phone Records
Picass0 writes with distressing news from the AP wire, about the AP: "The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion' into how news organizations gather the news."
They obtained call records from a number of desk phones, and the personal phones of many news editors. The DOJ has not commented, but it may be related to the possibility that the CIA director leaked information on a foiled terror plot in Yemen last year.
Yeah some real change from the John Ashcroft days...
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
How is there no mention of if there was or was not a warrant for this in the summary? More over, how the hell does the TFA not even use the word once?
Seriously, the press is all over things like wiretapping, political intrigues, what kind of corn was in the president's bowel movement today (was it GMO corn!?), etc, and seems to think that this kind of 'microscope up the ass' intrusiveness is not only 'news!' But also "the public has a right to KNOW!"
But, when somebody turns around and investigates one of THEM, "oh loaurd Jeezuz it's a fiar!".
What's good for the goose, is good for the gander AP. When you shamelessly cram the microscope up asses, don't act insensed or surprised when you get the microscope colonoscopy too. Simply because your shiny little badge says "news", does not make you immune to the law, and you are *not* people of priveledge.
Don't get me wrong, sunshine is good, and breaking stories about govt wrongdoing is healthy and good. Just don't foster an image of sweeping disregard for privacy, and due process while doing so, unless you want the same treatment for yourselves.
Enjoy your DoJ probing. You enjoyed probing others, so its surely right up your alley, AP.
Actually, there are shorter cycles as well, kind of like harmonics.
Interesting comment you made there about harmonics.
Harmonics can be deadly: Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse "Gallopin' Gertie"
So, at the moment the Obama administration has the following scandals brewing:
Justice Department: Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe
IRS: The IRS’s Tea-Party Targeting
State Department and Office of President: The Benghazi Deception
There are a few other things brewing in the background as well.
It might be a hot summer for the Obama administration regardless of the weather.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Some of us would love any kind of job we could get. Some of us have resumes that 10 years ago would have landed us a job in a week at almost any entry level position in the great capitalist machine.
Some of us had the ability to start our own businesses and run our own lives. Before the price became to great to compete.
(Sarcasm inc) We also owe society a permanent debt. Didn't you learn that in gradeschool?
But seriously when some are above the law. And most have no chance at controlling their fate. It's really fascist of you to demand we "kill off all the chaff". Especially when we have the means of providing everyone a clean and safe environment to live in with plenty of food. It doesn't matter if their oppressed. Unwilling to fight for themselves, or unable to. The better man will enlighten them and guide them on a path to success and liberty. You don't OWN this planet, and no one does. Maybe you should learn to share it?
But the technology and means of distribution has been suppressed by the rich dynastic few. Your entitled to not believe this. But I promise you are wrong. This is about the only thing I can know with a certainty any more.
Look at you. Above the fray, criticizing both Obama and Bush. Bush never did anything like this. You can't take your vote for Obama back, so when confronted with an undeniable scandal you make sure to always mention the predecessor in the same breath. You took sides when you voted. It's your bed. Sleep in it. Own it.
You missed too big to jail, and everything is rigged. Nothing happened to the people responsible (more than becoming even richer). And it will keep happening.
These so called scandals amount to nothing at all. We expect law enforcement to be efficient. We do know that many Tea Party types preach tax rebellion and cheating. So the IRS looks hard where they think they can ferret out cheats. this is exactly what urban ethnic minorities complain about. The cops use stop and frisk on people they see lingering on sidewalks. The rich don't linger on sidewalks. People that linger on sidewalks do tend to have illegal weapons and dope and they are easy to catch. Cops want to arrest as many criminals as they can so minorities feel oppressed. They are not getting busted for skin color or language but it feels like they are to them.
Hillary Clinton nailed the embassy thing on the head. The right wing controls the purse strings and when they cut back on government funding things like embassy guards get reduced and violence is sometimes a consequence. The CIA had some reasons for wanting information released about that embassy attack to be restricted. We have no clue what those reasons were and probably never will know.
As for Obama over reaching presidential authority maybe he does not. War powers exempt the president from many restrictions. Considering terrorist attacks Obama probably could declare martial law for the entire nation and meet the law. During such emergencies the congress and the judicial branches are effectively shut down completely. Bush should have been turned over to an international tribunal for crimes against humanity over the use of torture. A combatant who is out of uniform need not be put on trial but has always been subject to on the spot execution. In other words the US constitution and laws permit execution of many enemy captives but never permit torture whether mild or wild under any conditions without exception. For example in WWII some uniformed enemy were executed on the spot simply because we had no way to guard or transport them at the moment. But no degree of torture is ever acceptable. We are allowed to ask for the name, the rank and the serial number and the enemy is not required to even answer those simple questions.