You can always count on the White House to react strongly to “internal” threats.
Yes, the folks who could care less who is blowing up whom in Syria, Libya or Boston, takes people who snitch on them very seriously.
Their newest weapon is a program called “Inside Threat,” which, according to McClatchy, is designed not to just to clamp down on classified leaks, but rather to make sure ANY unauthorized disclosure of ANY information that make them look bad will leave a mark on the miscreant leaker.
Given the proclivities of the administration to impale themselves on the sharp edge of many of their policies, it’s no wonder they have no time for the economy, jobs, the war in Afghanistan, the immigration reform, budgets, national security briefings and all the other effluvia of governing.
What with vacations and stopping the whistle blowers, time is short.
“President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program,” writes McClatchyDC.com, “is sweeping in its reach. It has received scant public attention even though it extends beyond the U.S. national security bureaucracies to most federal departments and agencies nationwide, including the Peace Corps, the Social Security Administration and the Education and Agriculture departments. It emphasizes leaks of classified material, but catchall definitions of ‘insider threat’ give agencies latitude to pursue and penalize a range of other conduct.”
It’s received scant attention because the media, which makes money to report this type of abuse of power, is hoping still that Bo loves them, even though they have had some tiffs of late.
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Just like the wife who excuses the abusive husband, they’ve deluded themselves that really, come on, he means well.
Remember that business with the fishy@whitehouse.gov email address to report on citizens?
That was tyranny sure; but it was well-meant tyranny. They had it coming.
Just like the Tea Party people had it coming with the IRS, and General Carter Ham had it coming and General Petraeus had it coming, and Admiral Gaoulette and….
And don’t forget: we have Obamacare, and that’s well… that’s working out… someday. Maybe.
But of course we’ll now never know how Obamacare is working because the message is clear: Mess with this administration and the beatings will continue until your moral improves.
This just in from Foreign Policy online:
The State Department investigator who accused colleagues last week of using drugs, soliciting prostitutes, and having sex with minors says that Foggy Bottom is now engaged in an "intimidation" campaign to stop her.
Last week's leaks by Aurelia Fedenisn, a former State Department inspector general investigator, shined a light on alleged wrongdoing by U.S. officials around the globe. But her attorney Cary Schulman tells The Cable that Fedenisn has paid a steep price: "They had law enforcement officers camp out in front of her house, harass her children and attempt to incriminate herself."
Fedenisn's life changed dramatically last Monday after she handed over documents and statements to CBS News alleging that senior State Department officials "influenced, manipulated, or simply called off" several investigations into misconduct. The suppression of investigations was noted in an early draft of an Inspector General report, but softened in the final version.
Erich Hart, general counsel to the Inspector General, did not reply to a request for comment. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last week that "we hold all employees to the highest standards. We take allegations of misconduct seriously and we investigate thoroughly."
Ha! Apparently matters of misconduct and thorough investigations for the State Department only include whistleblowers, not the use of drugs, prostitutes and child sex trafficking by high-ranking officials that are representatives of the United States of America.
No wonder other countries don’t take the Obama seriously politically.
He governs the administration like Joe Stalin governed the Politburo.
“It was just a matter of time before the Department of Agriculture or the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) started implementing, ‘Hey, let’s get people to snitch on their friends.’ The only thing they haven’t done here is reward it,” Kel McClanahan, a Washington lawyer who specializes in national security law told McClatchy. “I’m waiting for the time when you turn in a friend and you get a $50 reward.”
McClatchy says that non-intelligence related agencies are already asking employees to spy on each other looking for triggers that could indicate leakers like “stress, divorce and financial problems.”
They cite concerns about creating a “toxic” work environment.
Hey. Um, how about the toxic country that’s being created?
Are there any liberals out there who can answer that question without using the words George and Bush?
I didn’t think so.
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