US Pressing Its Crackdown Against Leaks 213
NotSanguine writes with this quote from a NY Times article:
"The Justice Department shows no sign of rethinking its campaign to punish unauthorized disclosures to the news media, with five criminal cases so far under President Obama, compared with three under all previous presidents combined. This week, a grand jury in Virginia heard testimony in a continuing investigation of WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy group, a rare effort to prosecute those who publish secrets, rather than those who leak them. The string of cases reflects a broad belief across two administrations and in both parties in Congress that leaks have gotten out of hand, endangering intelligence agents and exposing American spying methods."
Non Classified data (Score:4, Insightful)
Is paid for by the public, so is owned by the public. ( well so is classified, but there is a difference )
The government works for US, remember? Or at least that is how its supposed to work.
Unaccountable Authority (Score:5, Insightful)
"Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity." - Lord Acton. This is from the same guy that said, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
Government needs to be accountable.
Re:LOL, American Freedom! (Score:5, Insightful)
Two parties are twice as free as one.
One party that uses two divisions to pretend to be two distinct parties is slightly more free than one party that drops the entire facade altogether.
Jesse Ventura gave a good explanation of how politics works. He said it's like pro wrestling. Sure, in the ring the wrestlers talk trash about each other and appear to be fighting each other. After the rigged match, they go out together and have a beer as friends. With wrestling it's the advertising money that does the rigging; with politics it's campaign funds.
Re:Non Classified data (Score:3, Insightful)
The government works for US, remember?
If I may quote the epic Rap New 6 [youtube.com]:
(impersonated) Hillary Clinton:
This is a case of high treason
It's against the land of the brave and divine freedom
We're the good guys, for democracy we fight evil
and we wage peace around the world, proud of the flag
These leaks could devalue this powerful brand,
bring military operations straight to a halt.
Our shareholders, clients and partners would plainly revolt.
Robert Foster (journalist/interviewer):
But aren't you beholden to the American public
and isn't the US one of the primary culprits
in overthrowing governments
Hillary Clinton:
Such as?
Robert Foster:
Chili, Iran, Nicaragua
Hillary Clinton:
Please, stop with the drama.
The American people are our employees
whose taxes fund the wars that support our schemes.
Their kids become troops we send overseas
in return for mega malls and the American Dream.
And if our client states don't like the things that we do
we install a dictator with a CIA coup.
In foreign relations subversion is the method we use.
Wikileaks threathens the system so it's a terrorist group.
Yes, it's over the top and no, I don't think the US is the cause of all evil in the world. But there's quite a bit of truth in there too. And the Hillary impersonation beats the real one ten times over :)
Re:Change you can believe in. (Score:2, Insightful)
Simply blaming the Republicans doesn't hold water since the Democrats had a majority in Congress and the White House for two years. I have no doubt that the Republicans refused to cooperate, but the Democrats failed us, too.
Re:LOL, American Freedom! (Score:5, Insightful)
I think they just practice the same strategy - get into office, spend everything you can while cancelling anything the other team was doing, then sit back and take credit for whatever 21st century stuff happened while you were in.
In that case, why the exclusivity? Have you ever actually read about what happens when any third party tries to even get on the ballot? Suddenly the most obscure laws and technical details become supremely important. It is not a straightforward process and it is not intended to be.
Then after getting on the ballot, there's the matter of funding your campaign so you even have a chance of election. Unless you're independently very wealthy like Ross Perot was, you either join one of the two major parties and play by their rules or you have no support. Even with his billionaire bankroll, Perot could do nothing more than split the Republican vote.
The two parties are different branches of a single organization. That organization's purpose is to do for modern politics what the guilds of old did for trade: to raise the barrier of entry in order to lock out competitors. Then the duopoly (really a monopoly, not that there's much difference) is maintained and can never be seriously challenged.
To see this purpose, this function of a guild, is crucial if you are to understand the actual nature and purpose of the USA's two-party system. Only a certain kind of politician will be vetted and accepted by it. That's why the government is going to grow in size and power no matter who wins the election. They're both puppets because both are afraid to bite the hands that feed them. They are not free to vote their conscience even if they do have one.
Re:LOL, American Freedom! (Score:4, Insightful)
As far as I know, John F. Kennedy [youtube.com] was the last President to actively stand up to "them". All since have been ball-less wonders in comparison.
Re:Non Classified data (Score:5, Insightful)
For most things on the list, no, they don't need protection. Treat them like passwords. If discovered, change them, don't legislate their secrecy and keep using them.
For instance, military plans. If they do leak, assume they could have leaked twice and instead of cracking down, make new plans.
BTW, if you're afraid of terrorism you're a mindless puppet. Look at 9/11 - oppressed freedom fighters kill 3000 people to bring attention to ongoing injustice perpetrated by us. They're labelled terrorists and we kill well over a million people in response.