The Government’s War on the Press

[Octafish]

America, We the People have a problem:
Our democracy to exist requires freedom of the press and the free and open exchange of ideas.
The government is using its powers to prevent that. And what powers they are.



"About this wanting to be a reporter, don't ever change your mind.
It may not be the oldest profession, but it's the best." -- Ed Hutcheson

The AP Seizures and the Frightening Web They've Uncovered

The Government’s War on the Press

by ALFREDO LOPEZ
CounterPunch, MAY 16, 2013

EXCERPT...

There, in a nutshell, is the problem. For the corporate media, there is such still a thing as “no conceivable right to know”. Up to now, part of Obama’s information policy has been that mainstream media qualifies for First Amendment protection but “alternative” journalists and the news organizations they work for, as well as bloggers, activists, writers and others who work independently of major news organizations and who use the Internet as the free vehicle of communications it was invented to be have absolutely no protections. Since 2009, this government is known to have taken action against Internet activists and truth-tellers: seizing servers, email records and virtually all forms of on-line communications and then prosecuting people in over a dozen cases based on some of those seizures. There’s been very little action taken against the corporate press, which for its part has largely ignored or blacked out any reporting on the government attacks on its smaller media competitors.

This “favored status” commercial media has enjoyed has now been trashed. The “protected press” is as exposed as the rest of us. In answering Pruit’s letter, the Justice Department said as much. “We must notify the media organization in advance unless doing so would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation,” U.S. Attorney’s Machen spokesman William Miller explained, in a remark that went way beyond the traditional exemption for protecting lives. He added, “…we are always careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right balance between the public interest in the free flow of information and the public interest in the fair and effective administration of our criminal laws.”

SNIP...

Where is the limit? Without a court hearing, there is none. If an AP reporter called your phone or emailed you from a targeted cell phone, the government now knows it and your phone number (and possibly email address) is now part of the investigation. That gathered information now includes your name, address, phone number, calls you received and calls you made. If they got to the email, all of that is theirs. No matter what those phone calls or email messages from your cell phone are about, they are a part of a government investigation into a major security leak.

SNIP...

Does the Obama Administration deserve that trust? Its stated position is that the government can collect and use any information of this type if there is a security reason to do so. The issue is what is a “security reason” and, since courts have been effectively removed from the process, that definition is completely in the hands of the Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Security Agency. If one of those agencies says you have no right to privacy, you don’t.

CONTINUED COINTELPRO...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/16/the-governments-war-on-the-press/

The moment freedom of the press is gone, freedom itself is gone extinct.

[snooper2]

1. Counterpunch, where truthy meets Alex Jones

LOL

[Octafish]

3. Nice knee-jerk; shows what you know. CounterPunch publishes Coleen Rowley...

...GOOGLE her if you don't know the name. For those who like to read, the "Why?":

The Militarized Crackdown on Political Protesters

No Victors in the War on Dissent

by COLEEN ROWLEY And WILLIAM JAMES COX
CounterPunch JANUARY 13, 2009

EXCERPT...

The Church Committee unearthed evidence in 1976 that the Viet Nam War had provided cover for the domestic infiltration and wiretapping of civil rights and anti-war groups and resulted in legislation and regulations against the worst abuses. However, the history of government repression and spying on those who dissent against its policies and practices seems to be repeating itself.

Following 9-11, the Bush Administration erased or circumvented many of these hard-won legal restraints. Warrantless searches under the PATRIOT Act and illegal electronic surveillance swept up more than terrorist threats as the government increasingly confused dissent, which builds up a free and democratic society, with terrorism, which seeks to tear it down.

The law enforcement response has become increasingly harsh and heavy-handed since the anti-globalization protests in 1999 in Seattle against the World Trade Organization. In November 2003, as many as 40 different law enforcement agencies invaded Miami during meetings relating to the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Protest groups were infiltrated by the police, the corporate media was “embedded” with law enforcement, and the independent media was suppressed.

The New York City police department used “Miami” tactics in 2004 at the Republican National Convention (RNC) during which hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and innocent bystanders were illegally arrested, fingerprinted, photographed, and subjected to prolonged detention in wire cages before being released without prosecution. Repressive tactics were also used the same year as a counter-terrorism measure at the Democratic National Convention, where Boston police established a designated fenced enclosure topped by razor wire as the “free speech zone.”

CONTINUED COINTELPRO...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/01/13/no-victors-in-the-war-on-dissent/

...let alone appreciate a free press and the free exchange of ideas, a democratic ideal if there ever was one.

[leveymg]

5. "Alex Jones" is just the newest way of calling someone a "Commie."

The Smear is back. Authoritarian personalities and their digital dog packs suck.

[snooper2]

8. No, not really...

There really isn't a political class associated when you get into Alex Jones, Truthy Counterpunch type bullshit...



This speaker may be helpful for you-

[Octafish]

20. Libel is worse than lying. Libel is a lie that sticks around.

The truth is the only time that CounterPunch mentions Alex Jones is to make fun of him. There are no articles authored by him, as I can find by a search of the its archives and through GOOGLE and Metacrawler.

Another important fact: the founder of CounterPunch, the late Alexander Cockburn, who wrote one of the best columns ever carried by The Nation, "Beat the Devil," actually hated "conspiracy theorists." For example, Cockburn, himself, publicly stated he thought Oswald was the lone assassin responsible for murdering President Kennedy. So, I have a problem with that.

I have a problem with smearing Alex Jones because, while I don't agree with the guy or his guests on a lot of things, there are some guests and topics that have not been heard anywhere else. More importantly, he has the right to state what he wants to say, even if I don't agree with it. Dogs can't read.

[RobertEarl]

2. Safety in numbers

The only reason we are not under complete control is that there are too many of us.

So what is most disturbing is that there are so many of us who submit and be docile to the minority PTB, rather than stand tall and be free men and women.

There are less and less every day that have the courage to resist much and obey little. Thank you, Octafish for continuing to shout out the SOS.

[Octafish]

4. Same for you, RobertEarl. Interesting, indeed.

The turds who try to derail discussion serve to speed the day when democracy is no more. DU, specifically, and the Web, generally, are among the few outlets left out of control of Corporate McPravda and its wholly owned subdivision, the U.S. Government.

Until that dark day when they control this place and the net, I'd venture to say it's important to bring up the connections. Still, it's an incredible display, such sensitivity toward the War Party.

[RobertEarl]

6. This a great place

... there are a few turds in the punch bowl, tho. But freedom can win. It has too, Life is not worth living without freedom.

[byeya]

7. As a sidelight, it's interesting to learn of the corruption of the fbi during the Free Speech Move-

ment and how Kerr was forced out of office; and how the fbi had a cozy relationship with Reagan expecially concerning the alleged criminal activities of Reagan's son which was k ept out of the spotlight and out of the courts.
Only one of hundreds of examples.

[Octafish]

9. ''Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power''

Book Reveals Extensive Effort by Reagan, FBI to Undermine California’s Student Movement in 1960s

Investigative journalist Seth Rosenfeld’s new book, "Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power," is based on more than 300,000 pages of records Rosenfeld received over three decades through five Freedom of Information lawsuits against the FBI. The book tracks how then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover ordered his agents to investigate and then disrupt the Free Speech Movement that began in 1964 on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. In part two of our interview, Rosenfeld discusses how Ronald Reagan collaborated with the FBI to target California’s student movement and strengthen Reagan’s own rise to power.

Details (and video for those too, eh, tired to read): http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/24/book_reveals_extensive_effort_by_reagan

Pruneface was a NAZI, an enemy of Democracy.

[byeya]

10. "it's worse than you think and they are out to get you"...I learned a lot I didn't know

from that book.

[Octafish]

11. Not even U.S. SENATORs can talk about what the Federal Government is doing to the American people.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado tried warning us about government spying and COULDN'T, because of SECRET LAWS in the USA PATRIOT Act.



How's that for "unintended" consequences of the War on Terra?

Democratic Senators Issue Strong Warning About Use of the Patriot Act

By CHARLIE SAVAGE
The New York Times, March 16, 2012

WASHINGTON — For more than two years, a handful of Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee have warned that the government is secretly interpreting its surveillance powers under the Patriot Act in a way that would be alarming if the public — or even others in Congress — knew about it.

On Thursday, two of those senators — Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado — went further. They said a top-secret intelligence operation that is based on that secret legal theory is not as crucial to national security as executive branch officials have maintained.

SNIP...

“We would also note that in recent months we have grown increasingly skeptical about the actual value of the ‘intelligence collection operation,’ ” they added. “This has come as a surprise to us, as we were initially inclined to take the executive branch’s assertions about the importance of this ‘operation’ at face value.”

The dispute centers on what the government thinks it is allowed to do under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, under which agents may obtain a secret order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing them to get access to any “tangible things” — like business records — that are deemed “relevant” to a terrorism or espionage investigation.

CONTINUED...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/us/politics/democratic-senators-warn-about-use-of-patriot-act.html?_r=2

Gee. I sure hope Sen. Wyden and Sen. Udall succeed in letting us know what the hell is going on with the USA PATRIOT Act spying on Americans thing is all about. After all, it is a sad time in America when Senators are afraid of being whistleblowers.

Stratfor: executive boasted of 'trusted former CIA cronies'

By Alex Spillius, Diplomatic Correspondent
9:08PM GMT 28 Feb 2012
The Telegraph

A senior executive with the private intelligence firm Stratfor boasted to colleagues about his "trusted former CIA cronies" and promised to "see what I can uncover" about a classified FBI investigation, according to emails released by the WikiLeaks.

Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at the Texas firm, also informed members of staff that he had a copy of the confidential indictment on Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

The second batch of five million internal Stratfor emails obtained by the Anonymous computer hacking group revealed that the company has high level sources within the United States and other governments, runs a network of paid informants that includes embassy staff and journalists and planned a hedge fund, Stratcap, based on its secret intelligence.

SNIP...

Mr Assange labelled the company as a "private intelligence Enron", in reference to the energy giant that collapsed after a false accounting scandal.

CONTINUED...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9111784/Stratfor-executive-boasted-of-trusted-former-CIA-cronies.html

The two Senators were talking about this latest outrage way back when. More than a few DUers, of course, were aware. But the rest of the nation, not so much.

Now why would Capitalism's Invisible Army want to keep We the People in the dark? For one thing, besides keeping tabs on everyone's comings and goings, could be for personal gain, say via inside trading?

Stratfor & Goldman Sachs started hedge fund called Stratcap to trade on illegal inside gov't info

"Stratfor’s use of insiders for intelligence soon turned into a money-making scheme of questionable legality. The emails show that in 2009 then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO George Friedman hatched an idea to "utilise the intelligence" it was pulling in from its insider network to start up a captive strategic investment fund. CEO George Friedman explained in a confidential August 2011 document, marked DO NOT SHARE OR DISCUSS : "What StratCap will do is use our Stratfor’s intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of geopolitical instruments, particularly government bonds, currencies and the like". The emails show that in 2011 Goldman Sach’s Morenz invested "substantially" more than $4million and joined Stratfor’s board of directors. Throughout 2011, a complex offshore share structure extending as far as South Africa was erected, designed to make StratCap appear to be legally independent. But, confidentially, Friedman told StratFor staff : "Do not think of StratCap as an outside organisation. It will be integral... It will be useful to you if, for the sake of convenience, you think of it as another aspect of Stratfor and Shea as another executive in Stratfor... we are already working on mock portfolios and trades". StratCap is due to launch in 2012. "

http://wikileaks.org/the-gifiles.html

One thing is for certain: Secret government makes it really hard to follow the money. It does make obvious who's getting rich off it, though.

PS: Thanks for the heads up on Seth Rosenfeld. It's something even non-readers would appreciate, if only they knew why.

[Octafish]

16. Now suppose you use all that intelligence gained from universal spying for personal gain?

It wouldn't be unprecedented, seeing how the same turds who helped deregulate Wall Street were of the same economic class and families as the people who had set up the CIA, cronies of the Bushes.

Spawn of Wall Street and the Third Reich

Imagine if a little alarm went off whenever a keyword was mentioned, say, "aluminum based derivatives." Would that be the type of tip that the people who have gone uninvestigated and unforgiven for lying America into wars, looting the banks, letting New Orleans drown, etc etc etc. might find useful?

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

12. Here's the unresolved question, for me, in all this.

It's kind of accepted here (DU) that the government is captive to special interests ie: corporate America. So if the government is taking away (through erosion and unchallenged activities) our rights, are they doing that at the behest of the special interests? Or a career bureaurocrats doing it at the direction of whichever administration is in office? Or what...........?
And am I spelling bureauocrat correctly?

[byeya]

13. Here's my two centavos: Under J.Edgar Hoover the fbi gathered all sorts of information sometimes

not under color of law. The agency leaders would dole out this information to selected friends of the fbi for the latters' benefit and use. The fbi was accused - the case was made for me - of planting rumors about MLK's sex life, particularly with white women; and the actress Jean Seberg, maybe because she once had a black boyfriend. COINTELPRO you already know about. With the fbi, it was a lot about advancing the agency's power and reach and having the proper friends helped.
So, a lot of anti cilvil liberty actions are to advance the agency with the power to keep the appropriations flowing. If you have to either help, or threaten, a politician, so be it.
Now if there are corporate friends who may want or need some off the record assistance, then they get it.
Strong oversight would prevent many abuses but when administrators and congress people are afraid, or beholden, you won't see much oversight and the agencies run amok.
I believe the above is but one facet of the degradation of our country that you allude to.

[Octafish]

14. Seeing how no one has gone to jail after lying America into an illegal and unnecessary war...

...and no one has gone to jail after looting the banks...or offshoring trillions to avoid paying taxes...or ripping off the homeowners...or letting New Orleans drown and rot...or torturing and raping innocent men, women and children...or providing accurate information about the ongoing nuclear disaster...it's difficult to say who's really in control or at fault. All three branches of government seem to be outside the purview of the American people.

I do know one thing for certain about the bureaucracy: The rich are getting richer. One big way they do that is war. And it's why, IMO, they hate leaks more than anything.

[MinM]

15. The corrosive effect of the anonymous source upon investigative reporting...

While I agree with the op in theory. In practice the corporate media has not engendered much sympathy in recent years. Here's just one example...

2001 -2008

Karl Rove calls up reporter, says a bunch of lies. says he wants all quotes as "anonymous" or said reporter will never gets access to White House again.

reporter prints lies, credits anonymous sources.

Dick Cheney makes the rounds of the Sunday morning news shows. says same lies, and adds, "If you don't believe me, this was also reported in the Washington Post." then cites the lies Rove said to reporter.

rinse, repeat...

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?p=503460#p503460

Jonathan Karl of ABC being another example of being wary of the corporate press.

William Rivers Pitt sums up this latest kerfuffle...

An Itty Bitty Pity Party for the Associated Press
Tuesday, 14 May 2013 09:24 By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout | Op-Ed

Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of the Associated Press, rose up raging on Monday afternoon and threw a bag of live rats over the White House fence...

Dear Mr. Pruitt et al.:

Some of us in the so-called "alternative media" have been yelling and screaming for years about the government's legalized ability to plunder our right to privacy to little avail, while you big dogs in the "mainstream" news media haven't bothered to give a damn in all that time. Too taxing to report accurately and consistently on complicated issues, yeah?

It was Abraham Lincoln who said, "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts." A shame; maybe if you'd been better at bringing the real facts to the people, the people would be better informed, and the elections/legislation that legalized the travails you currently endure could have been avoided.

It's funny to me that the Associated Press is nailing itself to a cross because you've been victimized by the same laws, politicians and tide of history you've either blissfully ignored or gleefully promoted for so many years.

Well, welcome to the future you helped to create. I have neither pity nor sorrow for you, but I am hopeful that your sudden inclusion in the ranks of the "Oh Shit, They Can Do That?" Club will inspire you to truthfully and factually inform the American people about what has been happening to their country right under their, and your, nose.

=======

Let's see what happens next.

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/16352-an-itty-bitty-pity-party-for-the-associated-press

[byeya]

17. The "investigative" journalism based on an anonymous source is important to the 1%

and their minions and stooges because when published it allows other media to repeat the bogus story on and on until it's common knowledge. It's a device that is useful for those in power, or those with enough $$$ to aspire to power, because the retelling can dominate a news cycle as well as planting untrue stories that are hard to fight against.
This is a failure of both the journalist and the editor and publisher of the media outlet.

[Octafish]

18. Agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Pitt. That is a separate issue, from my POV.

Corporate media consolidation and government censorship, as we have seen, are intimately intertwined. Take Colin Powell's wonderkid, Michael. He headed the FCC beginning in January 2001, when Bush the Younger Warcriminal took the Oval Office. Looking back, I'd say his resume looked about the best out of that crooked bunch. Didn't matter. He looked the other way as Corporate McPravda lied America into war.

What we have with Mr. Holder's assistant's investigation into AP sources and methods aren't just about who tells who what to do or when. It's about a system that's in place where Uncle Sam knows every single communication one makes and to whom everyone is speaking. The government can record what everyone discusses and link all the citizenry into social networks and document the contacts. They also know how you feel about them, based on content analysis of communications. And anyone who talks about anything the government doesn't like, including one's opinion on government spying, can now be declared an enemy of the state.

DU tried to warn people about it when the USA PATRIOT Act was new, but Corporate McPravda was spearheading whatever war Rumsfeld and Cheney were planning. As Will Pitt made clear, the mainstream media were no where around when the citizens tries telling the truth about the liars and their run up to war. The Big Picture for me: When we can't mention out loud the corruption, this is no longer a democracy.

[byeya]

22. I could have gone a little longer w/o hearing the name of Colin "What Me Lie" Powell's foul

offspring. The FCC had its reputation and effectiveness permanently smeared during this time which, I suspect, is exactly what was the desired outcome.

[MinM]

23. Good point.

This case with James Rosen drives it home even further.

@froomkin: Correcting earlier Tweet: Levity from Rosen search warrant: He uses Alexander Butterfield as a gmail nom de guerre


https://twitter.com/froomkin/status/336516613081804801

@OKnox: @froomkin Levity particularly if you know @JamesRosenFNC's abiding interest in all things Watergate !

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?p=339118#p339118

[BelgianMadCow]

19. And I have to log in to give this a fifth recommend

what on earth is DU coming to.

[Octafish]

21. Thank you for noticing. Perhaps some DUers are worried about making the wrong association...

...appearances are important.



From 1998, ECHELON America s Spy in the Sky.