in the days before the release of Glenn Greenwald's new book on May 13, the administration and the surveillance state seems to be more nervous than ever
now we also get official policy about "authorized leaks", aka propaganda, and "unauthorized leaks" aka, the truth.
does this mean that people like Jesselyn Radack, a former employee and whistle blower can be sent to jail?
does this mean that Thomas Drake, a former CIA employee and whistle blower can be sent to jail if they continue to speak out using what has been learned from Snowden documents?
In a new policy directive from the Obama administrative, national security and other government officials will no longer be allowed to publicly discuss or even reference news reporting that is based on "unauthorized leaks."
President Obama once promised the American people that his administration would be the most transparent in history, but after years of fights with civil libertarians trying to obtain legal memos used to justify the president's overseas assassination program, an unprecedented pattern of prosecuting government whistle blowers, the targeting of journalists, and all the secrecy and obfuscation related to the NSA's mass surveillance programs made public by Edward Snowden, that claim is now met with near universal laughter, if not scorn, by critics.
I added the bold. Maybe laughter will be enough to restore openness.
Obama Directive Makes Mere Citing of Snowden Leaks Punishable Offense
Once promising the most transparent administration in history, White House reins in free speech of employees
the article above is posted on commondreams.org and the main article is from the NY times today by Charlie Savage
Charlie was the journalist at the Boston Globe who received a Pulitzer prize for the work on the signing statements of George Bush. Remember the shock at learning that Bush could add a note at the end of a bill that would say that he might just not follow what was just passed. In other words, free pass to break the law. When Bush did it it was bad. Obama has continued Bush's efforts with signing statements as well.
here is how bad it is - officials cannot even confirm or deny a published story. Is this a violation of free speech? How many George Orwell steps can we stand before our oligarchy becomes a fascist state?
A new pre-publication review policy for the Office of Director of National Intelligence says the agency’s current and former employees and contractors may not cite news reports based on leaks in their speeches, opinion articles, books, term papers or other unofficial writings.
Such officials “must not use sourcing that comes from known leaks, or unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information,” it says. “The use of such information in a publication can confirm the validity of an unauthorized disclosure and cause further harm to national security.”
good to note that "authorized disclosures" help national security, but "unauthorized disclosure" harm "NATIONAL SECURITY."
the constitution is so quaint when faced with the clear and present danger of an outbreak of the truth!
here is the link to the NY times article. This is another instance of Obama exceeding W Bush.
Intelligence Policy Bans Citation of Leaked Material
here is a tweet
Tim Shorrock @TimothyS
Next thing you know, the government will tell State and DoD historians never to mention the Pentagon Papers when writing about Vietnam.
meanwhile back in the present, Keith Alexander, former head of NSA, gave an extended interview with an Australian newspaper which is analyzed here
Keith Alexander Unplugged: on Bush/Obama, 1.7 million stolen documents and other matters
and Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel, describes Keith's new job as a consultant using his insider knowledge about NSA and the other 16 spying agencies
Lying Keith Alexander to Shack up with Promontory and Profit Off His Fearmongering
"citizenship" is such a quaint idea in the time of the threats to our very way of life that the National Security State is protecting. "Citizens" have no right to know what the government does in their name!!!