http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/18/politics/john-mccain-donald-trump-dictators/index.html
So if McCain says that fighting the press leads to tyranny, why then was a silent all those years with Obama?
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2017/01/obama-media-freedom-unprecedented-intrusion-170122115158844.html
After eight years in office, what media legacy is Barack Obama leaving behind, and what might it mean for journalists in Trump's America?
When Obama first took office in 2008, he promised the media unprecedented openness in government - music to the ears of those coming out of the Bush years. However, with a crackdown on whistle-blowers, leakers and journalists, plus the justice department spearheading more prosecutions under the Espionage Act - a law passed 100 years ago - than all previous US administrations combined, has Obama been let off lightly?
"It's really been a tremendous disappointment. The Obama administration started out really strong and he said all the right things about the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] and transparency and government openness, but in the end, eight years later, we've seen a huge number of FOIA requests that have been unanswered, an incredible number of prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act and there's been a tremendous amount of pressure on the journalists as a result," says Lynn Oberlander, general counsel of media operations at First Look Media.
New York Times reporter James Risen was subjected to seven years of subpoenas, responses, appeals - one that went all the way to the Supreme Court - for refusing to reveal the source who provided him with details about a botched US operation to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme for his book, State of War.
Risen refused to testify and was threatened with the "invalidity" of his reporter's privilege in that particular scenario. Reporter's privilege derives directly from the First Amendment of the US Constitution and outlines a "reporter's protection under law, from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources". In Risen's case, this protection was fundamentally challenged.
"It set a very bad precedent. It means that there's no legal right, at least in the whole region where the Pentagon and the CIA and the NSA are, for reporters caught up in leak investigations to refuse to testify," says Risen.
Contributors: Lynn Oberlander, general counsel, media operations, First Look Media; Lucy Dalglish, dean, College of Journalism, University of Maryland; David Zurawik, media critic, The Baltimore Sun; James Risen, investigative reporter, The New York Times.
Even CNN blasted Obama regarding his treatment of the press.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/13/politics/u-s-press-freedom-ranking-obama-administration-leaks/
Washington (CNN)The United States has dropped 29 spots in the annual Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking since 2009, when President Barack Obama took office.
The U.S. ranked 49th this year out of 180 countries included in the organization's World Press Freedom Index, joining the ranks of countries like Niger, Malta and Romania.
The decline from its position at No. 20 in 2009 has been spurred by the Obama administration's aggressive prosecution of whistleblowers, said Delphine Halgand, the organization's U.S. director
Originally posted by whodeyTake it to Debates Spanky.
I will never forget Helen Thomas blasting Obama in term of his control over the press stating that not even Nixon went as far.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/21/flashback-helen-thomas-slammed-obamas-control-of-the-press-compared-him-to-nixon/
Originally posted by Ghost of a DukeWhy? Don't you believe spirituality and politics mix?
Take it to Debates Spanky.
Everything we debate about in this forum is played out in politics. Right and wrong. Good and evil. Moral and immoral. It's all there in black and white throughout the media.
Originally posted by josephwIf you think this topic belongs here and does not, instead, necessarily belong on the Debates Forum, it will be interesting to see how you see John McCain's apparent double standard (as argued in the OP) through the prism of spirituality.
Why? Don't you believe spirituality and politics mix?
Everything we debate about in this forum is played out in politics. Right and wrong. Good and evil. Moral and immoral. It's all there in black and white throughout the media.
Originally posted by FMFWhat is the spirituality forum doing in the debate forum? 😠😛😳
If you think this topic belongs here and does not, instead, necessarily belong on the Debates Forum, it will be interesting to see how you see John McCain's apparent double standard (as argued in the OP) through the prism of spirituality.
Originally posted by whodeyI think you are trying too hard to be funny, whodey. The question is a genuine one both to you and to josephw, unless you were indeed just seeking to spam this forum with copy pasted material pertaining to your political frustrations and you aren't interested in exploring it from a spirituality point of view. Which is it to be?
What is the spirituality forum doing in the debate forum? 😠😛😳
Originally posted by FMFNo, I actually posted it in the wrong forum.
I think you are trying too hard to be funny, whodey. The question is a genuine one both to you and to josephw, unless you were indeed just seeking to spam this forum with copy pasted material pertaining to your political frustrations and you aren't interested in exploring it from a spirituality point of view. Which is it to be?
Something tells me that this will escalate into a 4 page argument though.
Originally posted by FMFYou mean how JM sold his soul.
If you think this topic belongs here and does not, instead, necessarily belong on the Debates Forum, it will be interesting to see how you see John McCain's apparent double standard (as argued in the OP) through the prism of spirituality.
Originally posted by whodeyYour current republican president is the biggest, narcissistic, megalomaniac, a-hole in American political history, and yet all you still want to criticise about one of your most upright, well meaning and dignified leaders. You're an idiot.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/18/politics/john-mccain-donald-trump-dictators/index.html
So if McCain says that fighting the press leads to tyranny, why then was a silent all those years with Obama?
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2017/01/obama-media-freedom-unprecedented-intrusion-170122115158844.html
After eight years in office, what ...[text shortened]... rawik, media critic, The Baltimore Sun; James Risen, investigative reporter, The New York Times.
Originally posted by divegeesterObama was worse.
Your current republican president is the biggest, narcissistic, megalomaniac, a-hole in American political history, and yet all you still want to criticise about one of your most upright, well meaning and dignified leaders. You're an idiot.
