Obama wants federal judges to dismiss the lawsuit against the administration. That is, the Obama administration “urges” these judges to let the Pentagon and the FBI skip being under scrutinyso the federal government can protect itself from General David Petraeeus’ former lover? It was Jill Kelley, who spilled the beans, or leaked the affair, or was it? (We won’t know “the truth” until it comes out in federal court.)
In any case, the argument is Jill, didn’t have her privacy invaded enough to warrant a lawsuit against the federal government, governed by Obama? (The very term “Obama administration” embodies the notion the president leads the federal government — the executive branch and the White House.)
Not only does this move protect the federal government from a lawsuit, a lawsuit it should stand up and face. (FYI – we’re supposed to trust this same government as it “mines” all our data. This was what Obama told us to “comfort us” after another leaker, who lives in Russia now for fear of prosecution, said in the president’s public opinion damage control campaign to try to re-gain the public trust, after all.)
Not only does this move shamelessly and publicly help Petraeus at a time when the nation is war weary and espionage or secret weary, but, what kind of a double standard is this, Obama?
You go after the leakers, prosecuting the most whistleblowers (and pesky troublemakers) in presidential history, and you want to let off the federal government by helping former members of it you appointed, or a so-called good ol’ boy like Petraeus?
You ask for public support of your shared burden doctrine (one that many pundits don’t call “a doctrine” this morning since they scorn it so much), and you give a lecture at the UN about how all agreements (such as those you hope to make with Iran so that the world doesn’t have to worry about those pesky nukes?) are based on trust. Please.
Well trust starts at home. And burdens must be shared at home before we can trust closed-door foreign diplomacy abroad or at the UN.
It doesn’t take much intelligence (pun intended) to understand that military men might have more of an expectation of privacy, especially those running, or just knowing so much about intelligence, counter-intelligence, terrorism, counter-terrorism, counter-counter terrorism, and the erosion of civil liberties at home in addition to the use of drones and the practice of torture abroad. This former head of the CIA can expect to get more privacy (though he has no right to it) from the Obama administration. Meanwhile, the person Petraeus had the affair with has no case to protect her privacy?
It doesn’t take much “intelligence” (meaning information) to know if someone like Jill Kelley can’t claim her rights to privacy how could the rest of the American citizenry expect to do so? (Hey, most of us can’t afford to pay for the lawyers to go to federal court.)
Pulling Out the Pardons, 3 Years Early? Or is it a Preview of the Punch of Presidential Pardon-Power?
This is beginning to smell. And it reminds me of those days that are really smelly during every administration I can remember – the pardon days.
The pardon days occur between Christmas and the next president’s inauguration. These are the last days of a presidency when the president gets to be pardoner-in-chief.
The most shameless display of this was not under 43, nor 42 (Bill Clinton), but 41. And true to custom, unless you were reading the newspaper on key high-Christian holiday days, (Christmas morning, if memory serves), you didn’t know what I learned that morning that President George Herbert Walker Bush pardoned six of the Iran-Contra gang. Six in addition to commuting sentences!
Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy my Aunt Susan’s or my Aunt Nette’s homemade special Christmas pastries that morning. Yet, we’ve got 3 more long years to go before Obama can take advantage of the same presidential powers – the pardon powers — and already it’s starting to smell.*
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*If you begin to notice my blogs swing back and forth, between a spirited defense and a sense of disappointment of President Barack Obama it is because he simultaneously practices and violates the principles of the 3rd American political tradition, outlined in my book, Out of Many, One. Everything is black and white about the Obama administration. This too is in the book.
My right wing husband (who edits for the other side) told me a comforting secret – and that is every politician and/or statesperson betrays us. I did know this, though I appreciate my husband’s comfort. I knew this and yet I refused to quite believe it – and of course, I am glad I stayed in the academy to be honest. It is best to stay home (in the academy) and “criticize” (and by that I really mean think critically if you’re one of my students.)
