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The Stunning Hypocrisy of the U.S. Government
Congress has exempted itself from the prohibition against trading on inside information … the law that got Martha Stewart and many other people thrown in jail.
There are many other ways in which the hypocrisy of the politicians in D.C. are hurting our country.
Washington politicians say we have to slash basic services, and yet waste hundreds of billions of dollars on counter-productive boondoggles. If the politicos just stopped throwing money at corporate welfare queens, military and security boondoggles and pork, harmful quantitative easing, unnecessary nuclear subsidies, the failed war on drugs, and other wasted and counter-productive expenses, we wouldn’t need to impose austerity on the people.
The D.C. politicians said that the giant failed banks couldn’t be nationalized, because that would be socialism. Instead of temporarily nationalizing them and then spinning them off to the private sector – or breaking them up – the politicians have bailed them out to the tune of many tens of billions of dollars each year, and created a system where all of the profits are privatized, and all of the losses socialized.
Obama and Congress promised help for struggling homeowners, and passed numerous bills that they claimed would rescue the little guy. But every single one of these bills actually bails out the banks … and doesn’t really help the homeowner.
The Federal Reserve promises to do everything possible to reduce unemployment. But its policies are actually destroying jobs.
Many D.C. politicians pay lip service to helping the little guy … while pushing policies which have driven inequality to levels surpassing slave-owning societies.
The D.C. regulators pretend that they are being tough on the big banks, but are actually doing everything they can to help cover up their sins.
Many have pointed out Obama’s hypocrisy in slamming Bush’s spying programs … and then expanding them (millions more).
And in slamming China’s cyber-warfare … while doing the same thing.
And – while the Obama administration is spying on everyone in the country – it is at the same time the most secretive administration ever (background). That’s despite Obama saying he’s running the most transparent administration ever.
Glenn Greenwald – the Guardian reporter who broke the NSA spying revelations – has documented for many years the hypocritical use of leaks by the government to make itself look good … while throwing the book at anyone who leaks information embarrassing to the government.
Greenwald notes today:
Prior to Barack Obama’s inauguration, there were a grand total of three prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act (including the prosecution of Dan Ellsberg by the Nixon DOJ). That’s because the statute is so broad that even the US government has largely refrained from using it. But during the Obama presidency, there are now seven such prosecutions: more than double the number under all prior US presidents combined.
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Please read this rather good summary in this morning’s New York Times of the worldwide debate Snowden has enabled – how these disclosures have “set off a national debate over the proper limits of government surveillance” and “opened an unprecedented window on the details of surveillance by the NSA, including its compilation of logs of virtually all telephone calls in the United States and its collection of e-mails of foreigners from the major American Internet companies, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Skype” – and ask yourself: has Snowden actually does anything to bring “injury to the United States”, or has he performed an immense public service?
The irony is obvious: the same people who are building a ubiquitous surveillance system to spy on everyone in the world, including their own citizens, are now accusing the person who exposed it of “espionage”. It seems clear that the people who are actually bringing “injury to the United States” are those who are waging war on basic tenets of transparency and secretly constructing a mass and often illegal and unconstitutional surveillance apparatus aimed at American citizens – and those who are lying to the American people and its Congress about what they’re doing – rather than those who are devoted to informing the American people that this is being done.
The Obama administration leaks classified information continuously. They do it to glorify the President, or manipulate public opinion, or even to help produce a pre-election propaganda film about the Osama bin Laden raid. The Obama administration does not hate unauthorized leaks of classified information. They are more responsible for such leaks than anyone.
What they hate are leaks that embarrass them or expose their wrongdoing. Those are the only kinds of leaks that are prosecuted. It’s a completely one-sided and manipulative abuse of secrecy laws. It’s all designed to ensure that the only information we as citizens can learn is what they want us to learn because it makes them look good. The only leaks they’re interested in severely punishing are those that undermine them politically. The “enemy” they’re seeking to keep ignorant with selective and excessive leak prosecutions are not The Terrorists or The Chinese Communists. It’s the American people.
The Terrorists already knew, and have long known, that the US government is doing everything possible to surveil their telephonic and internet communications. The Chinese have long known, and have repeatedly said, that the US is hacking into both their governmental and civilian systems (just as the Chinese are doing to the US). The Russians have long known that the US and UK try to intercept the conversations of their leaders just as the Russians do to the US and the UK.
They haven’t learned anything from these disclosures that they didn’t already well know. [He's right.] The people who have learned things they didn’t already know are American citizens who have no connection to terrorism or foreign intelligence, as well as hundreds of millions of citizens around the world about whom the same is true. What they have learned is that the vast bulk of this surveillance apparatus is directed not at the Chinese or Russian governments or the Terrorists, but at them.
And that is precisely why the US government is so furious and will bring its full weight to bear against these disclosures. What has been “harmed” is not the national security of the US but the ability of its political leaders to work against their own citizens and citizens around the world in the dark, with zero transparency or real accountability. If anything is a crime, it’s that secret, unaccountable and deceitful behavior: not the shining of light on it.
It has gotten so blatant that even New Yorker comic Andy Borowitz is lampooning the hypocrisy coming out of Washington:
At a press conference to discuss the accusations, an N.S.A. spokesman surprised observers by announcing the spying charges against Mr. Snowden with a totally straight face.
“These charges send a clear message,” the spokesman said. “In the United States, you can’t spy on people.”
***
“The American people have the right to assume that their private documents will remain private and won’t be collected by someone in the government for his own purposes.”
“Only by bringing Mr. Snowden to justice can we safeguard the most precious of American rights: privacy,” added the spokesman, apparently serious.
Similarly, journalists who act as mere stenographers for the government who never criticize in more than a superficial fashion are protected and rewarded … but reporters who actually report on government misdeeds are prosecuted and harassed.
Further, the biggest terrorism fearmongers themselves actually support terrorism. And see this.
In the name of fighting terrorism, the U.S. has been directly supporting Al Qaeda and other terrorists and providing them arms, money and logistical support in Syria, Libya, Mali, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iran, and many other countries … both before and after 9/11. And see this.
The American government has long labeled foreigners as terrorists for doing what America does.
Moreover, government officials may brand Americans as potential terrorists if they peacefully protest, complain about the taste of their water, or do any number of other normal, all-American things.
This is especially hypocritical given that liberals like Noam Chomsky and conservatives like the director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan (Lt. General William Odom) all say that the American government is the world’s largest purveyor of terrorism.
As General Odom noted:
Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world.
These are just a couple of ways in which the D.C. politicians are hypocrites.
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Charging and arresting Snowden would be tantamount to the police arresting a guy who ignores the "NO TRESPASSING" along wth the "NO SWIMMIMG" signs in order to save a drowning child.
Petition to the white house to pardon Snowden has already reach the 100,000 mark which necessitates a response from choom boy.
http://mashable.com/2013/06/22/petition-to-pardon-edward-snowden-reaches-threshold/
Use the link in the article to add you name to the petition if you want. Lets get that count up to 1 million.
Only one petition now matters:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
The Four Rs:
Rejection--No pay, no obey.
Revolution--They're preparing for it, you should be as well. See NDAA 2012/2013/2014, ect.
Retribution--We will know who and what these sociopaths are guilty of, and is their really any place for the likes of them in a restored Constitutional and civil society?!
Restoration--Restore the Constitutional republic.
Sure, add your name to the database of folks who support Snowden that the NSA will likely use down the line to target dissidents. Easiest way to subjugate people is to convince them to do it voluntarily by dangling some hologram of a carrot.
Don't you think that everybody here on ZH is not on the list yet? I mean, anybody that has said anything negative about the government ever is on that list.
Not only that, there have been other petitions reach the threshold number only to see nothing done and in one case (I remember not which)the threshold was miraculously raised... just for it's own little specific case.
Ah....
If you fart something, smell something...
knuckles - yeah raised from 25,000 to 100,000 where it sits now. Will they raise it again?
Fuck it if you're not already on the list, you're a nitwit nobody.
You've posted on zero hedge.......you're on the list
We are so far gone, I doubt there can be a re-set without blood in the streets.
While more people are awakening to the sewer rats in D.C. and becoming aware of the LOG (love that, Winston), most still have no clue what is going on at state level.
The special interest groups (ALEC is probably the worst of the lot) are coordinating an assault on State Houses across the country, with pre-planned & drafted legislation that supports corporatism at the expense of freedom and individual liberty. The are financing state district elections and stacking the legisltures with sold out politicians who then gerrymander the districts to be safe for themselves. This is the true reason for gridlock in Washington, and why the parties can no longer work together and compromise for the good of the nation. The quality of "leadership" we have now is atrocious - the worst I have seen in my 66 years.
Did you see the latest on Bill Moyers? His second show on ALEC was this weekend. Bill was on fire...he detests this Koch-funded, bully of an organization.
And I blame the Corporations, not their lackey Lobbyists. The blame belongs 100% on the CEOs and the BOD of these despicable greedy corporations.
The politicians, our supposed 'representatives,' are simply the minions of the CEOs and Banksters.
May the citizens of the United States who value Justice and Liberty spit in their collective faces.
Maybe we should all vote with a write-in: None of the Above.
Oh those poor sad manipulated politicians...
USSA is the laughing-stock of the world.
Who could possibly take its ever more transparently ludicrous & bizarre flights-of-fancy (aka chronic lying) seriously?
Gonna be the first Empire in history to end not with a bang - or even a whimper - but with derision.
Clare Daly in Irish Parliament agrees with you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMucHfUMyg&feature=player_detailpage
So, their plan is to subdue us with laughter?
They are covetous too. You can't claim moral superiority when you are coveting your citizen's lives
If Snowden's passport has been revoked when out of the country, that means the US government has disowned him and taken away his citizenship privileges.
He is no longer an "American" but a citizen of this world. The United States no longer has any right to control this man's future.
The United States government and its hypocrisy will be a blight on world history and will eventually split the country into pieces unless the government is brought under control, by the people for the people.
Not a U.S. citizine. Looks like Ed. Snowden has moved to the top of Barry's kill list. Look for a drone strike in the coming days.
Mr Snowden is no idiot - he is aware of the risks, and I think all ZH commentators must realise that if he does "suffer an unexpected demise" the resultant information deluge will put Wikileaks very much "in the shade"!
It may well be in "The Administration"'s interests to ensure he does NOT succumb to any fatal event!
Yes, but taming that monster and bring it to heel is a Heculean task greater than cleaning out the Augean stables.
If you have to be hypocritical you might as well go the whole hog and be stunning like "Gilda" Feinstein; don't put the blame on me, guys, put the blame on Ed Snowden."
'Cos Gilda Feinstein like Peanut Schumer know that while Snowden's action MAY on face value be illegal, it is that of true whistleblower as the action of POtus, administration and 535 congressmen who support him, is UNCONSTITUTIONAL; something that ex-vice potus Al Gore the eco-compatible penguin, now all alone on his fast melting north shelf, has confirmed : NSA ain't the AMerican way!
So eat that Gilda! munch on that and peanut butter.
If you really looked close at that pig, you'd call it a "feinswine".
It's systemic. It is no grand coordinated plan. It is individual actions of agencies and their leaders in a system that grew to corruption and waste. It grew so slowly they didn't know it. Now they are part of it and do not know how to correct it as it is too large. Congress is disconnected from the agencies as it is similiar in its corrupt ways that grew in a similiar fashion. The President/White House with weak leadership and like ways are trying to survive themselves much less supervise or lead others. The collective system is broken, hence why it is becoming obvious to all.
Like preachers we now have people leading our agencies trying to build their kingdoms, their empires. Each wanting and justifying a need for more and more, all for the sake of more. Power Point presentations have replaced leadership. The USA has no management, it is now just a disjointed system of uncontrolled agencies with no overwatch. Article 1 and 2 of our constitution are void of function. The people have no one to turn to. We are at our worst.
The U.S. Government must be defunded and dismantled. There will be hell to pay whether it is dissolved....or not.
The U.S. Constitution was created to govern a moral and religious, Judeo-Christian, people. That is no longer the case.
STARVE THE BEAST!!!
The progression has been one of an addict.
The politicians need to admit they are powerless over debt and that their government has become unmanageable. The anger towards Snowden is about covering up their shame over what they've done. In the family, no one speaks the truth about the dark secrets.
Much like the real economy is disconnected from main street, congress is disconnected from the beasts they've been funding. Now it's so large it making congress obsolete. Their jobs don't matter and they are impotent. Either tow the line or get out of the way. We all know who has the power here and it aint CONgress or POTUS!
"Their jobs don't matter and they are impotent."
As Dylan Ratigan said here, there is only one man who could really get the ball rolling toward a real change back to what our political system should be by appealing directly to the American people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcqb9hHQ3E
Of course, that won't happen, because all candidates are "properly vetted."
http://www.businessinsider.com/dylan-ratigan-return-to-media-2013-5
Now that was a most excellent rant.
It's anything but random.
Bank on it... or don't.
STFU...you're either with us or against us. ...oh wait....
Every item in your list of travesties can be chalked up to one cause - we don't have a government of the common people, we have a LOG (Lobbyist Owned Government). Because of a perverted, money-driven election system, most legislation is written by and in the interests of deep pocket lobbyists. Until that is fixed, nothing of any major significance will change for the better.
There's a more fundamental problem underlying the perverted, money-driven election system run by lobbyists. For too many people the problem is who gets to run Leviathan. Isn't the problem that Leviathan exists at all.
This is absolutely true. Legislators answer to corporate lobbyists because they write the checks. And they provide lucrative future jobs to compliant legislators and their family members. Until corporate money is removed from the electoral process any attempt at reform is doomed to fail.
Seem like the first thing to do is dump belonging to any party except the human one.
Once again take the time watch so you can see (should be easy to see for wall street type's at ZH)
http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim.html
His book. this is not a link to get anyone rich find your own way to Amazon he sells it for less than 2.00 its for the info.
http://blog.ted.com/2013/04/03/how-we-can-make-elections-about-the-people-not-just-funders-an-excerpt-of-lawrence-lessigs-new-ted-book-lesterland/
And once again at some risk to yourself George Washington, you nail it again!
Lawrence Lessig
http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Lessig/e/B001HCW3ZK
Another 5 star read for anyone interested. Here is (a portion) of Amazon's summary:
"There’s a common belief that cyberspace cannot be regulated-that it is, in its very essence, immune from the government’s (or anyone else’s) control. Code, first published in 2000, argues that this belief is wrong."
Before you get too excited about Lessig's fiery rhetoric you should read carefully the amendment he proposes to "fix" it. Read the actual wording of the amendment itself and you can see his corporate/Harvard/status quo viewpoint shining through like Wall Street propaganda. From MoveToAmend, where they believe this kind of legal weaselwordliness says something meaningful:
We The People Amendment
Section 1. [Artificial Entities Such as Corporations Do Not Have Constitutional Rights]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
A remarkable statement of the obvious. This changes nothing; it was already understood to apply to natural persons. To say “only” just means fictitious persons will no longer be protected by the Constitution. It doesn't mean that fictitious persons will no longer have inordinate privileges under case law and precedent.
Artificial entities established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
Again: corporations' privileges never were constitutionally guaranteed rights, they were privileges granted as a legal convenience (and because corporations lobbied real hard to get them) And they've always been subject to regulation “by the People” (on K St.) through the appropriate jurisdiction, said jurisdiction being blatantly corrupted by the regulated - for the regulated . This changes nothing, but re-states the status quo.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Once again, nothing new: simply a third re-statement of the status quo. Corporate privileges are determined by what corporate attorneys can get away with in court. Whether those privileges are construed to be inherent or inalienable is irrelevant.
Section 2. [Money is Not Free Speech]
Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own contributions and expenditures, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process, and that no person gains, as a result of their money, substantially more access or ability to influence in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
All citizens already have access to the “political process”; that's nothing new. Having access to the media is a completely different thing. Regulating the expenditures of candidates doesn't alter the outcome of elections if corporate-sponsored media are allowed to control public opinion in any way. There are so many ways for corporations, by means of content-control over sponsored media, to influence elections that limiting direct contributions or expenditures is almost irrelevant. When this phrase says : “...,and that no person gains, .....” , it should be noted that it's not “persons” we're talking about in an amendment to end corporate personhood. Perhaps they meant: “..., and that no corporation gains, etc...” . Once again, it doesn't change a thing.
Federal, State, and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.
This is my favorite ! Corporations don't have to disclose illegal, impermissible, or shady contributions and expenditures – just the permissible ones ! ROFL !
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
So, then, what IS the spending of money to influence elections? It's not speech; OK. So it's not protected under the First Amendment; OK. Is there some other restriction, not mentioned in this amendment, that would prohibit a corporation from rigging elections with money and media power?
It's rare you find so many words with so little meaning; and in this sense, the MTA amendment is a masterpiece of corporate legaleze: absolutely no change whatever in a hundred words of legal horsepucky ! Nothing to see here folks........................move on.
Uncle Sham at his best. Insert crank in rectum, no lube.
The US guv is a beast.
Welcome to New Amerika, a world of cognitive dissonance, every minute, every hour, every day.
Dissonance for those who took the blue pill. Unlike in the Matrix though, the sleep is fitful and the dream interrupted.
Boris is forgetful of movie plot... what is diagnosis for Blue Pill and Red Pill? Is okay to mix with vodka?
This is totally absurd:
Edward Snowden has had his U.S. passport revoked.
A U.S. official on Sunday said Edward Snowden’s passport was annulled before he left Hong Kong for Russia.
http://homment.com/snowden-passport
The American government are again overstepping. A passport is not something that should be revoked. It is a birthright.
Next will be revoking the passport of any person not conforming.
The dictatorship of the American government will continue until we all resist their tyranny.
It is high time people start resisting these fascists.
a "passport" is a fictional document issued by a fictional entity.
thus, its validity is subject to the whims of the same entity that issued it.
birthrights supercede all fictions, but only if you insist.
Hypocrisy is the wrong descrip, CRIMINALS is the real one.
Quoting Johnson "politics is the last refuge of a scoundrel"
Some animal is more equal to other.
Some animals bleed more equal than others also.
Rest assured we'll get them...someday.
Just remember is to shave first!