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a berlin blog |
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Oh BrotherFor anyone who thinks a government collecting phone lists is no big deal, really, if it helps keep the nation safe, here are two stories about Big Brother spying on journalists:1) In Germany -- at Spiegel, no less (and other places). 2) In the United States. The idea in each case was to find traitors within the government who were leaking information to the press. Let's trace this logic: Collecting citizen phone records is OK if it helps intelligence services establish patterns of phone calls to terrorist groups. Leaking to journalists, however, is not OK, because it might compromise national security. So misusing those phone lists against domestic journalists who benefit from leaks of top-secret information might also be OK. Except when leaking is OK -- or not "leaking" but singing like Pavarotti from the Vice President's office, to a favorite right-wing journalist, about the identity of a CIA officer -- to bolster a government's fraudulent case for war. I mean, wait. We are still OK, right? We haven't crossed the line into treason or anything, even though we're the government? posted by Michael Scott Moore | 9:12 AM
Comments:
It may or may not be treason, but it is at least very likely legally actionable behavior. The trick is to find anyone in congress willing to step up and swing at it. Good luck, there. We need to get balance back in at least one house. If there is enough organization, this could happen this year -- but I doubt it. Republicans are enjoying the free ride on the NeoCon train, and Dems are too busy acting righteously indignant (self included) to set up a proper plan of action.
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