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BHO on Jay Leno

Speaking violence to truth.


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So Jay Leno had to stoop this low. He never had the élan of his forerunner or the man predicted to take the slot, but he's sure shown he knows how to worship the dollar and cater to the whims of (and sycophantically lick the boots of) oppressive government.



In a carefully orchestrated interview with POTUS Obama made to look like casual conversation, he lets Obama use his fifteen minutes of fame to argue against the overwhelming global opinion against him, and ushers the POTUS through deceptive lies intended to blur the issues.

This is all covered excellently and succinctly by Jesselyn Radack in her recent piece at Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/16/how_to_trap_a_whistleblower/

Jesselyn Radack probably knows more about whistle-blowing in the US than anyone, herself a target of repression who also was attorney for Thomas Drake, the first to be attacked by Obama with the help of the archaic and misappropriated Espionage Act.

Radack takes issue with a deliberately disingenuous statement by Obama during the theatre presentation on Leno's show:

'I can tell you that there are ways, if you think that the government is abusing a program, of coming forward. In fact I through executive order signed whistleblower protection for intelligence officers or people who are involved in the intelligence industry.'

'This message is false', writes Radack. 'And the president repeated it at his press conference a few days later.' Meaning it's no innocent slip-up. Evidently someone on the White House staff thinks a bit of the old 'Okey-Doke' will work on the unwashed masses.

Obama was making an obtuse reference to his Presidential Policy Directive #19, which, it is true, does address such issues. But the key fact, a fact known at the time by Obama, his staff, and perhaps even Jay Leno, was that the directive was not in effect when Snowden went public. Worse still, another lie: for the directive does not protect people in contract positions like Snowden.

It's a Trap!

Radack concludes:

'Drake's story puts the lie to the notion that internal channels serve as anything other than a trap for unwitting whistleblowers. What is so revealing is that if Snowden had gone through internal channels, the outcome would have been worse: the United States would have charged him with espionage and he'd be in jail for, in essence, spying on his own country on behalf of the public. It should not require martyrdom for a free citizen to challenge government abuses of power. It should not require choosing one's conscience over one's career, citizenship, or freedom.'

As more and more people speak truth to the abusive power of Obama and the US, Obama and the US speak violence to truth.

See Also
Salon: How to trap a whistleblower

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