Sibel Edmonds: The Traitors Among us in March issue of Hustler

[JohnyCanuck]

From Bradblog.com:

You're welcome. My 2000+ word article on former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds is now featured in the March 2010 edition of Hustler. Sorry, she's wearing all her clothes. Go buy it anyway.

The article brings the story of Edmonds, who was twice-gagged by the Bush Administration's outrageous use/abuse of the "States Secrets Privilege," fully up to date following her naming of names, finally, under oath, in remarkable testimony last summer. (Some of those names: Hastert, Burton, Blunt, Lantos, Schakowsky, Wolfowitz, Perle, Grossman, etc.)

The Hustler piece, "Sibel Edmonds: The Traitors Among Us," also explores reasons for the perhaps-even-more-remarkable complete avoidance of her 4-hour, detailed, video-taped testimony by the corporate media (Pat Buchanan's American Conservative magazine excepted, if you consider them to be "corporate media") concerning allegations of blackmail of sitting U.S. Congressmembers, the theft and sale of nuclear secrets to the foreign blackmarket, and other allegations of treasonous activities by top State and Defense Department officials over the last decade or more, as we have covered in great detail here at The BRAD BLOG over the years, as the story has unfolded.

So there's your latest excuse to go buy Hustler. While you're at the newsstand, please pick up a copy of the February issue of Maxim as well, featuring Simon Worrall's feature article on the formerly-'censored' story of the mysterous death of GOP IT guru Mike Connell, as detailed in our recent exclusive preview.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7688

[Orrex]

1. Hustler and Maxim, the final torch-bearers of American journalism.

I can't even read stuff by or about Edmonds anymore, because it fills me with futile rage.

I may check out the piece about Connell, though.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. certainly puts the lie to the idea that that constitution thingy

is worth the hemp it's written on, doesn't it?

[troubledamerican]

5. Did you think that Bill Keller was interested in non-NSA-approved news?

[G_j]

3. K&R

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Coleen Rowley interview posted on Sibel Edmonds' blog (mp3)

Coleen Rowley shares with us her views on the latest spectacle surrounding the Christmas Day foiled terrorist attempt, and how it reflects on policies that were implemented after 9/11. She provides us with insight into the pretend investigations carried out by the 9/11 Commission, and how they conducted many of their interviews of FBI witnesses and experts inside the FBI HQ and offices. Ms. Rowley talks about the absence of real investigations and accountability in almost any government related wrong doing and issues, our shameful treatment of inmates in Guantanamo detention center, the alarming desensitization of our people bolstered by the culprit mainstream media, and much more.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2010/01/31/podcast-show-22/

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Another good interview from Sibel's Blog

Chris Hedges gives us a quick sketch of his latest book “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle”. He discusses the real role of the US media as one of the main culprits in promoting a sense of exceptionalism by disseminating fantasy, and poisoning civil and political discourse with entertainment and trivia. He talks about the spectacle surrounding Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign and his function as a brand just like any other commercial commodity brand advertised and promoted by corporations, the last decade’s coup d’état in slow motion, and much more!


ChrisHedges2Chris Hedges is a senior fellow at the Nation Institute and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He has written nine books, including Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle, and the best-selling American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. He spent two decades as a foreign reporter covering wars in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and served for eight years as the Middle East bureau chief of The New York Times, where he shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, for coverage of terrorism. Hedges also received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. His weekly column is published on Truthdig.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2010/01/29/podcast-show-21/

[JohnyCanuck]

6. kick n/t

[Echo In Light]

8. K&R

[Mari333]

9. k

[JohnyCanuck]

10. The Daily Texan: Defending the Empire

By Calvin Sloan

snip

The most infamous tactic that governments use to alter the public mind in their favor is propaganda. In America, where the synergy and consolidation of private interests dominate both the medium and message of information dissemination, the existence of propaganda is blatantly visible.

However, the empire has another powerful, much less discussed tool in its arsenal: censorship.

Upon understanding that, as Jensen states, “Excessive secrecy is an intrinsic feature of the concentrations of power necessary to run an empire,” it should come as no surprise that the United States implements censorship tactics. In the 21st century, one of the most controversial methods of free-speech suppression in America has been the state secrets privilege.

snip

Take, for example, the case of Edmonds v. Department of Justice. Although you may not have heard of Sibel Edmonds, the plaintiff of the case, she was once described by the ACLU as “the most gagged person in the history of the United States.”

Edmonds worked for the FBI as a translator and became a whistleblower after being fired for reporting misconduct in the agency. She is regarded by many to be a reputable source, having been publicly backed by Senate Judiciary Committee members Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and appraised in a Department of Justice inspector general report that asserted her allegations are “credible,” “serious,” and “warrant a thorough and careful review by the FBI.”

Despite such authoritative support – or most likely because of it – Sibel Edmonds was silenced. Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the state secrets privilege for her case and issued gag orders upon Edmonds, which rendered her mute.

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/opinion/defending-the-empire-1.2146472