Chelsea Manning exposes U.S. military role in restricting freedom of the press

Chelsea Manning on the Obama administration's police of making the U.S. Military control and restrict Media Freedom

RELATED If a reporter’s embed status is terminated, typically she or he is blacklisted. (The Fog Machine of War : Chelsea Manning on the U.S. Military and Media Freedom * The New York Times) Mushroom clouds, duct tape, Judy Miller, Curveball. Recalling how Americans were sold a bogus case for invasion. (Lie by Lie : A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq * Mother Jones) "The Justice Department has completely lost sight of the First Amendment." (A Radical Departure on Press Freedom * The Wall Street Journal)

From her prison confines in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, former United States Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has written a scathing editorial, published in today's Sunday edition of The New York Times. "WHEN I chose to disclose classified information in 2010, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others. I’m now serving a sentence of 35 years in prison for these unauthorized disclosures. I understand that my actions violated the law. "However, the concerns that motivated me have not been resolved. As Iraq erupts in civil war and America again contemplates intervention, that unfinished business should give new urgency to the question of how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan. I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance." Fromer PFC Manning, now jailed by the Obama administration as part of the White House crackdown against government corruption whistleblowers, provides a needed reality check -- really really REAL TALK -- on how the government bullies journalists into reporting government propaganda in the mainstream media, deceiving the public about the government's actions. Her editorial is a must-read for any First Amendment activist, blogger, and voter.

Senator Feinstein Outraged by CIA Spying on Senate, But She Defends NSA Spying on Citizens

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is shocked -- SHOCKED!! -- that the government has been discovered to be illegally spying and subverting the U.S. Constitution !

This, from the same madame chairwoman, who so righteously defends N.S.A. spying powers :

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, said that the Central Intelligence Agency had violated federal law and undermined Congress’s constitutional right to oversee the actions of the executive branch. The dispute stems from the agency's illegal search of computers used by the Senate intelligence committee to investigate C.I.A. interrogation procedures at its secret Bush-era prison system. “I am not taking it lightly,” she said.

RELATED : C.I.A. Accused of Illegally Searching Computers Used by Senate Committee (The New York Times)

RELATED : Edward Snowden : Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a Hypocrite for Blasting C.I.A. Spying (NBC News)

And in a forceful editorial, the likes of which we have not read in ages coming from normally staid Editorial Board of The New York Times, the editors excoriated President Obama over the C.I.A. torture and detention programs. The Editorial Board demanded that the Obama administration release a Senate report and a C.I.A. internal review of the torture and detention practices, and the editors further demanded that President Obama reverse an earlier decision to forego an investigation into the C.I.A.'s interrogation procedures, calling for an end to the "lingering fog about the C.I.A. detentions."

Some of the comments to The New York Times's article and editorial plainly indicate that Sen. Feinstein has recourse to the rogue actions of the C.I.A :

"Congress has the power of the purse. Demand the ouster of anyone, and I mean anyone, involved in this illegal action and the appointment of an ombudsman accountable only to Congress and with full security clearance to monitor the agency's actions, or defund it and transfer its responsibilities to one of the other intelligence agencies, which also needs a Congressional ombudsman. Checks and balances must not be circumvented or short-circuited; they are our Constitution's key safeguard against tyranny," wrote Mark from Boston, MA, in response to the article.

"Senator Feinstein has been providing a professional courtesy to the CIA and the administration by withholding the committee's report since December 2012. If she wants to demonstrate that Congress really does have independent oversight authority, she could simply release the report as is. Of course, that would set off a firestorm and occupy the White House and parts of Congress for a few months, to the detriment of other pressing matters. Nonetheless, if she feels wronged by the CIA, she has a potent tool at her disposal," wrote Ken L from Atlanta, GA, in response to the editorial.

U.S.A. Has Been Spying On Angela Merkel Since 2002

La N.S.A. Espionnait Les Français by connaissable

Did Barack Obama Know About N.S.A. Wiretaps on Angela Merkel's Cellphone ?

"Le quotidien Bild am Sonntag cite ce dimanche des sources des services de renseignement américains selon lesquelles le chef de la NSA, Keith Alexander, avait informé Barak Obama d'une opération d'écoute des communications de la chancelière allemande dès 2010," meaning that President Obama knew of the spying on Angela Merkel since 2010.

"Le Spiegel indiquait samedi soir, au vu de documents de la NSA, que la chancelière figurait sur une liste d'écoutes depuis 2002, et l'était encore quelques semaines avant la visite du président américain à Berlin, en juin dernier," meaning that Merkel was still on the list of spy targets just a few weeks before President Obama's visit to Berlin last June.

However, the article ends in confusion, because it was reported that, " Selon Der Spiegel, le président américain lui aurait dit que s'il l'avait su, il y aurait immédiatement mis fin," meaning that Obama said that he would have ended the spying on Merkel if he had known about it, creating a contradiction between what Der Spiegel and Bild am Sonntag are reporting. If President Obama said he would have ended the spying on Merkel if he had known about it, then why are there indications that he was informed of it in 2010, but Merkel continued to appear on the spy list until this year ?

Source : Scandale de la NSA : Angela Merkel était écoutée depuis 2002 (Le Parisien)

VIDEO : Activists Arrested During Protest Against David Patraeus at City University of New York

6 CUNY students were arrested Tuesday during a protest against a controversial decision by CUNY to hire ex-C.I.A. director David Petraeus for a teaching post this semester. "A video shows police officers trying to barricade the protesters, who spill out onto the street," The New York Daily News reported. The video shows police shoving and pushing the protesters, including an episode where cops used physical force against young ladies, who took part in the protest.

“They did not touch or threaten those officers,” said lawyer Lamis Deek, who was defending the arrested students. “The only obstruction that happened was from the police.”

Candidate Barack Obama in 2007 on Warrantless Wiretapping

Excerpt from President Obama's speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center on August 1, 2007.

... This Administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom.

That means no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. And it is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists. The FISA court works. The separation of powers works. Our Constitution works.

We will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbitrary.

This Administration acts like violating civil liberties is the way to enhance our security. It is not. There are no short-cuts to protecting America ... .

Read more : Illinois Senator Barack Obama, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, gave this August 2007 speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Obama Romney Budget Deficit Tax Reality Check

It's untruthful for both President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney to be running away from having some responsibility in the horrible federal budget deficits.

President Obama signed an extension of the Bush era tax cuts, and the GOP rigged it to be that way.

Austerity is in our future, because both the Democrats and Republicans in Washington are afraid to raise taxes on the 1%. And nobody gets pressed on the Robin Hood tax.

Instead, watch the livestream by Democracy Now. Democracy Now is expanding the debates and letting alternative candidates (like Jill Stein) participate in the presidential debates in real time.

Watch live streaming video from democracynow at livestream.com

2003 Iraq NYC protests Censorship ?

A Google search for news stories about this string : nyc war protest 2003 (without quotation marks) (which is broad enough to pick up the massive anti-war protest and rally, which took place in New York City on February 15, 2003) turns up no results. Why does Google provide no links to news articles to a simple search for this historical event ?