By Ken Theisen, 6/30/06
On Monday, June 26, 2006 the President and Vice-President in
a concerted effort launched political attacks on the New York Times and other
media for their exposure of the international bank transfer spying program conducted
by the Bush administration. These
attacks serve two purposes for the Bush regime.
First, they are an attempt to intimidate the media into silence about
the regime’s crimes. Second, they are
meant to shift the discussion about the illegality of these actions to a
discussion of what should be done to media outlets that dare to report such
actions.
Weeks ago, Attorney General Gonzales floated the idea of
prosecuting the New York Times under the 1917 Espionage Act or other statutes
for exposing the regime’s wiretap program conducted by the National Security
Agency. At the time he said the government would not hesitate to track
telephone calls made by reporters as part of a criminal leak investigation. Now
the President and VP have joined in the regime’s attack on freedom of the
press. These challenges to freedom of the press can not be allowed to stand. The
media is one of the last checks on this imperial presidency. Congress caved in long ago and the regime
largely bypasses the courts when it ignores the fourth amendment protection
against illegal searches.
Has Congress conducted hearings on the latest Bush spy
program? Is Congress alarmed that freedom of speech and the press are under
attack? Far from it, instead they have
joined the attack on the media. Congressional Representative Peter King,
chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has asked the Justice
Department to ‘begin an investigation and prosecution of the New York Times (
the reporters, the editors and the publisher.
We’re at war, and for the Times to release information about secret
operations and methods is treasonous.’ Others like House Speaker Dennis Hastert
have condemned the leaks to the press with idiotic statements such as, ‘Loose
lips kill American people.’ Representative J.D. Hayworth wants the Congressional
press credentials of the New York Times to be pulled. In the Senate, Senator James Bunning also charged
the Times with treason.
(Update: After I
completed this article, the House of Representatives on June 29, 2006 passed a
non-binding resolution in a vote of 227-183 praising the spy program on
financial transactions. The resolution
states that the program is a success that respects civil liberties and further
states that Congress ‘expects the cooperation of all news media organizations
in protecting the lives of Americans and the capability of the government to
identify, disrupt, and capture terrorists by not disclosing classified
government intelligence programs.’ In
the debate on the resolution, Representative John Dingell accurately described
the resolution, ‘This resolution is a clear attempt to silence the press. They want to deny the press the opportunity
to come forward and tell the people the truth about what is going on under this
administration.)
Most Congressional members who have not joined in the attack
on the media let the magic phrase ‘national security’ keep them quiet when it
comes to the administration’s actions. While
the Democrats occasionally make noises of protest, they rarely take any serious
actions to impede the regime. For example, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s
Congressional office stated that she ‘raised concerns when she was told about
collection of phone company records and the security agency’s surveillance
activities.’ But this Democrat leader did nothing to halt these illegal
programs, nor did she disclose them.
In addition to the administration and its Congressional
allies attacking the media for exposing the regime’s actions, the right-wing
media has also predictably weighed into battle. The comments of Melanie Morgan,
a KSFO radio talk show host, are typical of many in the right-wing media. She would like to see the New York Times editor,
Bill Keller imprisoned for treason and maybe executed for authorizing the
publication of the bank transfer story.
She told the San Francisco Chronicle on June 28th, ‘If he
were tried and convicted of treason, yes, I would have no problem with him
being sent to the gas chamber.’ Of
course, other reactionary commentators from Rush Limbaugh to Bill O’Reilly have
also offered their condemnations of those who have exposed the Bush regime’s
most recent actions as well.
In The Weekly Standard, in an article entitled, ‘Leaks and
the Law: The Case for Prosecuting the New York Times,’ Gabriel Schoenfeld, the
senior editor of Commentary argues for going after the Times by using U.S.
Criminal Code, Title 18, Section 798 which states in part, ‘Whoever knowingly
and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available
to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to
the safety or interest of the United States) any
classified information) concerning the communication intelligence activities of
the United States) shall
be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.’
I guess we should be grateful that this law does not call for execution. In
another article, The Weekly Standard branded the Times as a ‘national security
threat.’
My favorite quote came from the mouth of conservative
commentator Morton Kondracke on the Fox News Channel. He suggested the New York Times assumes,
‘we’ve got more to fear from our government than we do from terrorist
attacks.’ I can not speak for the Times,
but that is exactly what I think. As
long as the Bush regime remains in power we do have to fear the U.S.
government. But it is not because the
government is all-powerful. It is
not. The Bush regime can and must be
toppled.
It is important to understand why the Bush regime and its
supporters are launching these attacks.
It is not operating from a position of strength, despite appearances. The
regime is in a position of weakness and it can not afford exposure of its
illegal actions. It knows if most people
become aware of what is being done to our freedoms under the guise of ‘protecting
us’ and our freedoms, that these actions will not be accepted by the vast
majority. Like rats hiding in the dark, the regime can not stand light. Therefore it is desperate to do everything
possible to keep the media quiet and acquiescent.
The recent attacks on the media are a continuation of other
actions such as the smearing operation on Joseph Wilson and the outing of his
wife as a CIA agent when Wilson exposed the lie
about Iraq
obtaining uranium ‘yellow cake’ with his op-ed in the Times. The Bush regime
had to conduct a campaign of lies about weapons of mass destruction to launch
the war against Iraq. It has justified most of its actions here and
around the world under the guise of conducting a ‘war on terror’ while actually
launching a war of terror against the people of the world. The regime even justified tax cuts for the
rich and proposed drilling for oil in the Artic as part of the war on terror.’ It reminds me of the comedian Flip Wilson who
constantly said, ‘The devil made me do it,’ but for the Bush regime the refrain
is ‘I did it because of the war on terror.’ Like the ‘war on terror’, the
entire regime is built on lies and it can ill afford the exposure of these
lies.
This is why the media must not be quelled by these political
attacks. It must continue to expose all
infringements on our freedom and all the lies of the Bush regime while we still
have some freedom to protect. The Bush regime will only be driven from power if
people are aware of what it is doing. The media is central to making people
aware. The Bush regime is weak and the
combined power of millions can drive it from power. To see what you can do to
further the departure of Bush and his entire regime, see worldcantwait.org.
Kenneth J. Theisen is
an organizer with THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT! DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME! He writes about national and international
issues.