Breaking news from the change we can believe in front!

Doug Henwood:

 

Breaking news from the change we can believe in front! The Obama administration is opposing Congressional legislation to protect reporters from being jailed for refusing to reveal who disclosed confidential information to them. For national security reasons, of course. As Charlie Savage put it in a story in the New York Times the other day, “The bill includes safeguards that would require prosecutors to exhaust other methods for finding the source of the information before subpoenaing a reporter, and would balance investigators’ interests with ‘the public interest in gathering news and maintaining the free flow of information.’” Obama doesn’t like this. And he’d like judges to be told to be “deferential” to the executive branch when it screams “national security” in such cases.

And, as the inaptly named Jason Ditz reported on Antiwar.com a couple of weeks ago, the administration is seeking the extension of several major provisions of the Patriot Act, including one that would allow the gov to subpoena library and bookstore records, and others that make it easier to wiretap on the executive branch’s whim.

Oh, and given Congressional Democrats’ opposition to sending more troops to Afghanistan, in the pursuit of god knows what, the admin is going to turn to the Republicans for backing. On issues of imperial war and the national security state, Obama 1 is looking more and more like Bush 3.

Posted via email from Jim Nichols