Northside, never has your signature ever been so appropriate than when dealing with Obama administration scandals.
Progressives, Democrats must stand with New York Times against Obama on NSA phone records collection [rquoter]We have arrived at a defining moment for the progressive movement in this nation. The New York Times editorial board, which has generally given this president a lot of leeway throughout his career, wrote a scathing denunciation Friday of the Obama administration’s use of data mining, claiming that “the administration has now lost all credibility" on the issue of balancing civil rights with national security. Every progressive with even a shred of moral consistency should side with the New York Times against the White House. The events of the past month – from the Associated Press subpoena to the James Rosen search warrant to the revelation that our government has been indiscriminately collecting phone records data – have forced liberals to make a choice between complacency and outrage, between keeping silent because one of our own is in the White House and calling him out on betraying the principles for which we have fought for so long. Every progressive with even a shred of moral consistency should side with the New York Times against the White House. Consistency has never been the fiber of political discourse but it is nonetheless a vital ingredient of credibility. Progressives rightly denounced the overreach of the Bush administration when it came to abuses of the Patriot Act. We should just as strongly denounce the expansion of those abuses by this administration. Many of us did not buy the previous administration’s excuse that overreaching infringement upon the civil rights of ordinary Americans was a necessary step in keeping those same ordinary Americans safe. We should not buy it from this administration now, simply because this president is ostensibly one of us. If this White House truly wanted to level with the American people, the president would have gone on national television to explain the necessity of these programs and the trade-offs between civil liberties and security he believes are consistent with his policies. That he has failed to do this for nearly six years is evidence of the fact that there is likely no excuse for such blanket surveillance upon the American public, aside from the usual “it’s necessary to keep us safe” bromide. Once the shock of 9/11 wore off for a lot of us, it became apparent that our government was happy to use its pretext for all sorts of questionable activity. From the invasion of Iraq to the nearly unanimous passage of the Patriot Act, elected officials on both sides of the aisle did not hesitate to grab as much power as possible under the guise of national security. This behavior was not limited to one political party or the other – so the criticism of this behavior should not be emanating from one party and not the other. Over the past several days, conservatives have pilloried this administration for a policy that began under the previous one with the mantra that Bush only went after terrorists, while Obama is going after regular Americans. This is as ridiculous as it is false. No one should give any president a blank check to vastly expand executive power based on his word that he is doing it in the national interest. The phone records of millions of Americans have been collected and analyzed by both administrations without any explanation of how violating our privacy protects our security. As progressives, we cannot remain silent when a president, whom we worked hard to elect and defend at every turn, betrays the very values upon which he ran five years ago. The New York Times was right to call out the administration on this, just as others have been right to call out its egregious behavior towards the Associated Press and James Rosen. Progressives should stand with the Times on this. Otherwise, we are just rooting for the name on the jersey, and not for the values that the jersey represents. Julie Roginsky is a Fox News contributor and political and media consultant. She has served as a senior political strategist for Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressmen Frank Pallone, Jr., Albio Sires and Steve Rothman, among others. She was previously the Capitol Hill communications director for Senator Jon Corzine. Follow her on Twitter@Twitter@julieroginsky.[/rquoter] Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013...h-new-york-times-against-obama/#ixzz2VZKzD6bj
Before you know it the government will send the names, addresses, and phone numbers of every American citizen out in a book -- they will probably make it a bright color so it is easily noticeable -- unless you own a business then it will probably just be white.
I am glad to see that basso has finally come to his senses and agree that the Patriot Act was a bad idea. I assume you agree it's time to repeal it?
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It's the Guardian that leaked these documents---and it's the Guardian that's been forever hammering away at Obama's terrible position on this issue. I don't think you have any ground to dictate anybody's moral grounds, to be perfectly frank. Please acknowledge Bush's criminal complicity in this program first. Thanks!
Sure! just as soon as Obama apologies to W. [rquoter]The Honorable George W. Bush Former President Crawford, Texas Dear George, I use George instead of president because, well, Michelle tells me that it is confusing for me as the president to call another person president. I think you understand this a lot better than Bill that you can only have one president at a time. Also, I am sending this letter to Crawford instead of Dallas because I read recently you were mountain biking at your ranch (that reminds me I need to start looking into where I am going to live after I am done here, and I promise I won't be moving to Texas because who knows when that will turn blue). For starters, I wanted to say it was great seeing you at your presidential library opening. What a great event, and please tell your dad hi for me. He is a great guy, and I love that your mom said the country doesn't need any more Bushes. I think that will be true about Obamas, especially after this last couple of weeks. I feel like you must have felt before you left office. And now for the purpose of this letter (I know you are rolling your eyes and saying, "just get to the point," but you know me: I can be a little long-winded at times): I wanted to say I am sorry. I am sorry that, as a United States senator and presidential candidate, I was critical of you about so many things I now, myself, am doing. I am sorry about saying Guantanamo would be closed immediately and it was a blight on America. It is still wide open for business. I am sorry for criticizing you and your administration for intrusions on American's privacy and invasions into personal liberties. My NSA took what you did and put it on steroids. I am sorry for criticizing the way you waged the war on terror. I have personally approved a number of drone strikes and actually have said it is OK to kill an American on foreign soil without due process. I know you are probably saying, "Aren't you the expert on the Constitution?" but, as you know, being president is hard work. And, by the way, between you and me, I know your vice president was probably upset my administration got Osama Bin Laden (I get the sense he might have some anger issues and I sure wish he would have kept quiet like you have), but it was really thanks to you and my continuation of your national security policies. I am sorry for all my overheated rhetoric about your administration not being transparent and saying my administration would be the most transparent in history and most open to the media. Boy, was I off on that one, and certain reporters at the Associated Press and Fox News don't seem to understand why we might put them under secret scrutiny. Well, George, that is probably all you have time for, and I hope you accept my apology. You can take heart that, even though I am a Democrat, I decided to keep going nearly all your vision and plans on national security and even take it to all-new levels. One day, I hope someone can follow a path as president that doesn't constantly use the ends to justify the means, but that is going to take a leader strong enough to be more compassionate and follow the principles of your and my buddy JC. Can you believe his "love your enemies" line??? With our luck, it will probably be a woman who finally does that as president. Take care, and hope you will stay quiet until I leave office because Bill never stops talking. Sincerely, Barack Obama P.S. You will be happy to know The New York Times is now attacking me for all the same stuff I attacked you on. Crazy.[/rquoter] http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/imag...president-bush/story?id=19350973#.UbNIwvZ4agh
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You care more about one man apologizing to the other, then the two running something which, if not unconstitutional in the purest sense of the word, certainly runs against the spirit and intent of the founders?
Kenya Hear Me Now? 2005 & 2007 Obama would be very angry @ 2013 Obama: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/08/us/politics/08obama-surveillance-history-video.html
The government doesn't care you are visiting the website "Big booty b****es....with big boobs". If you are worry about about that, get off the internet. Did you really think no one was not monitoring the internet and your cell phone? I always assume this....AND DIDN'T CARE. The gov't doesn't care what sights you are visiting under this program unless you are trying to build bombs or other Terrorist activity. Any other stuff they have to have valid warrants. Take your tin foils hats off and live your live. "The Big Booty b****es..." are waiting for your visit! :grin:
