Obama has replaced Freedom of the Press with Freedom to Suppress.

[JDPriestly]

I still think that much, if not all, of the interesting information in the Wikileaks I have seen thus far is information that our news media should have discovered long ago.

It is shameful that we have such ineffective media.

[DFab420]

1. Soo the press's lack of testicular fortitude

is now also Obama's fault?

You know what, I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose. That is obviously President Obama's Healthcare Plan not working for me right?

I also think think that much, if not all, of the interesting Wikileaks info was pretty much common knowledge throughout the diplomatic world, it's now just confirmed as opposed to rumored.

[JDPriestly]

7. The good thing about Wikileaks is that the press is now reporting

on some of the things that you think are common knowledge in the diplomatic corps. If you vote, you need to know a lot of this stuff. The items on Italy and Saudi Arabia were particularly interesting to me. That Berlusconi is so close to Putin was something I did not know. Certainly Americans should be aware of that fact. And the information about the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran was something I have long suspected but now know for a fact. That sheds a different light on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for me. That is information that will be very helpful to me in deciding how I vote in the future.

[DFab420]

23. Oh I agree totally with you.

I think these documents have and will continue to open the books of history before anyone has a chance to write it. However I really doubt that this is anything to do with President Obama or his stance towards our news media.

I would also like to point out that people always talk about how Saudi money is influencing American policy, but if that were really really true, don't you think we would have been in Iran by now? I think what we are seeing is that American diplomacy is much more intricate and well played out then we give credit for. WE placate the Saudi's who keep the oil prices down, which endears us to the Russians, who are helping us work out things out with Start, which is making it appealing for China to speak with us as to not allow Russia and the US to become to cozy, which is changing China's relationship with North Korea as well as the EU. Which is allowing for currency discussions between the EU, China and the US.

I think the news media is a victim of it's own success. They lost sight long ago of what they are supposed to be, the fourth branch of our democracy, and have simply become money seeking mouth pieces. That happend long before Pres. Obama ever took office.

[JDPriestly]

25. Clever strategy you describe there

"WE placate the Saudi's who keep the oil prices down, which endears us to the Russians, who are helping us work out things out with Start, which is making it appealing for China to speak with us as to not allow Russia and the US to become to cozy, which is changing China's relationship with North Korea as well as the EU. Which is allowing for currency discussions between the EU, China and the US."

Problem is, the loser in that strategy is the American worker. The big corporations do fine, but Americans lose their jobs and end up on the streets.

[DFab420]

29. Also true.

Just because it's intricate and works. Doesn't mean it works for the right people!

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Obama did not do this...

Bush did not do this.
Clinton did not do this.
Bush I did not do this.
Reagan saw the ascendancy of a the modern media paradigm. But it started before him.

[Greyhound]

12. Raygun codified it, but Clinton finished it.

Just one of the many "benefits" of government that refuses to enforce the law.

[Rosco T.]

3. Oh what a load of bull crap n/m

[Arkana]

4. This is crap. The fact that the press didn't report this stuff

is the press' fault, not the President's.

Jesus, you people love to blame him for everything you can think of, don't you? What do you do when you run out of corn flakes? Shake your fist and yell "OOOOOOBAAAAMAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"?

[JDPriestly]

8. But the president is seeking to stop the Wikileaks.

The president is not supporting the right of the press to print this.

Are you aware that Obama has gone after people who leak to the press more than any prior president?

[Arkana]

19. Oh, really? Any hard data or are you just talking out of your ass?

Because I have a hard time believing that he's clamped down on leaks to the press harder than LBJ, Nixon, or Bush.

[JDPriestly]

24. Who, other than the US government, would be attacking

the Wikileak servers?

[arcane1]

5. I'm confused as to what you think Obama's role is in this matter

and how he is responsible for "information that our news media should have discovered long ago"? :shrug:

[JDPriestly]

9. Obama should just be silent about the leaks.

He should be prosecuting the people who commit crimes of fraud, torture and eavesdropping on private citizens, not prosecuting people who publish information provided to them by whistleblowers.

Maybe I should change the word "prosecuting" to persecuting.

How many bankers are in jail?

How many torturers are in jail?

What about the guys who kidnapped a perfectly innocent German citizen and tortured him? Are they in jail?

They have not even been threatened, but Assange -- the Obama administration is reported to be behind the threats to him.

[polichick]

6. So far the most disgusting piece of info is the president's part in joining...

...with Republicans to keep Spain from prosecuting for torture. As Jonathan Turley said on msnbc last night, that really is amazing - both against the Constitution and our war treaties.

[JDPriestly]

11. Absolutely. And the fact that the press has not reported on a lot of this stuff is shocking to me.

So far, I have not seen the names of any military or intelligence sources. But I am reading the items printed in newspapers which I figure have been carefully edited.

[polichick]

17. I wonder if the press knew about the Spanish thing - it would really...

...be a breach of duty not to report that.

[struggle4progress]

10. I personally find these "stretch to insult Obama" posts rather asinine

[NightWatcher]

13. Is Obama ultimately responsible for the actions of his Administration?

When Holder does something at Justice, can Obama be held responsible?
When Treasury does something else, can we hold Obama responsible?
When Defense does something, can we hold Obama responsible?

[Bluerthanblue]

15. pretty childish in my opinion.

There is nothing wrong with not approving of something Pres.Obama does or says but posts like this just make me shake my head in dismay.



:shrug:

[kctim]

14. Its not 'interesting information,' its classified information

is releasing classified information good or bad?

[polichick]

18. Depends upon how much info is classified and for what reasons. nt

[Arkana]

20. American citizens have a right to know the exact details of the military's

planned response to a North Korea nuclear missile strike, dammit! I want the codes to the nuclear football made PUBLIC!

[JDPriestly]

27. None of that information has been released to my knowledge

although I admit that I have only been reading what has been printed in the news media.

I'm not interested in knowing real secrets, but the stuff I have seen should not be labeled secret.

[JDPriestly]

26. Depends on whether it should be classified.

Most of what I read was just gossip that any decent journalist could have dug up. It should never have been classified in the first place. I have only read small portions of the materials, but I have not seen anything thus far that should have been classified. Have you?

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. What specifically did President Obama do/not do to cause this problem?

[bvar22]

21. Here is a couple:

Obama more aggressive than Bush in Targeting Whistle Blowers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/11/obama-whistleblowers_n_609787.html


President Obama's War on Whistleblowers
http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/president_obamas_war_on_whistleblowers

[MilesColtrane]

22. Obama runs Amazon?

Now I now who to write my complaint to if those Xmas presents I ordered don't arrive on time.

[JDPriestly]

28. Who besides the government could or would attack the

servers and cause Amazon to have to give up transmitting the information?

Do you seriously think that Amazon just decided on its own, without government pressure or threats, to stop transmitting it?

If you do, I'd like to talk to you about this bridge. It's a really good buy, and I can make you a special deal if you like.

[MilesColtrane]

30. Amazon's servers handled the ongoing DoS attack just fine.

They pulled WikiLeaks because hosting them is a bad business decision.

Sure there was government and media pressure for them to cave, but ultimately it comes down to the company not making a move that would infringe on its bottom line.

That's the primary factor in deciding policy for all big corporations.

[JDPriestly]

31. How could it infringe on their bottom line?

[MilesColtrane]

33. Right Wing blowhards and bloggers were pushing for a boycott.

Calls to Boycott Amazon Spring Up Over Hosting of WikiLeaks Servers

[JDPriestly]

34. Fools. It is interesting how people assume that someone on the left

is responsible for giving this information to Assange.

Yet we know that the previous big leak of this type -- about Valerie Plame -- came from the right.

What if? Let's use a little imagination here.

What if the actual leaker is a left-over from the Bush days trying to embarrass the Obama administration? That is just as possible an explanation for the leak as any other.

What if it isn't a leak at all? What if some foreign country hired a lot of hackers to get into those files and is having fund tormenting and dividing the US over their publication?

Don't ever, ever, ever make assumptions without the facts. We really don't know at this point what happened. At least I don't know. But I like mysteries and puzzles so this aspect of the case fascinates me.

[laughingliberal]

32. K & R nt