14-06-2013, 08:09 AM
The free Press is placed first:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Chris Hedges suggests this freedom is dead:
CHRIS HEDGES: Well, we used to have a mechanism. It was called the press. And we used to be able to tell our sources that they would be protected and that they would not be investigated for providing information that exposed the inner workings of power. Unfortunately, the press, like most institutions in this country, and I would add the legal profession, has largely collapsed under this corporate coup d'état that's taken place and is no longer functioning. And I want to get back, that what this is fundamentally a debate about is whether we are going to have, through the press, an independent institution within this country that can examine the inner workings of power or not. And it is nowI mean, many of us had suspected this widespread surveillance, but now that it's confirmed, we're seeingyou know, why did Snowden come out publicly? Well, because I think he knew that they would find out anyway, because they have all of Glenn Greenwald's email, phone records and everything else, and they can very quickly find out who he was speaking to and whether Snowden had contact with him. And thatyou know, I speak as reporteris terrifying, because it essentially shuts down any ability to counter the official propaganda and the official narrative and expose the crimes. And we have seen in the last few years tremendous crimes being committed by those in power. We have no ability now to investigate them.
I would add that the Fourth Amendment is dead as well:
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Hence, Oceania is on an even footing with Putin's Gangsterstan and the Beijing Ant Hill: no free press, no personal privacy.
All the shrieking fairies and carping harpies of the Ministry of Truth and Ivy-Covered Myth defend the Security State, slandering the Snowdens as they did the martyred president.
They are as O'Brien in the Inner Party. Truth is in the daily talking points.
War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength, QED Snowden is a traitor and Kennedy got what was coming to him.
There is no rational need for the constant permeating surveillance of entire populations--save that familiar to any student of Hitler, Stalin, Mao et al.
CHRIS HEDGES: Well, we're talking about the death of a free press, the death of a civil society. This is far beyond a reasonable debate. We make the East German Stasi state look like the Boy Scouts. And if we don't wrest back this power for privacy, for the capacity to investigate what our power elite is doing, I think we can essentially say our democracy has been snuffed out.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4852[/ATTACH]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Chris Hedges suggests this freedom is dead:
CHRIS HEDGES: Well, we used to have a mechanism. It was called the press. And we used to be able to tell our sources that they would be protected and that they would not be investigated for providing information that exposed the inner workings of power. Unfortunately, the press, like most institutions in this country, and I would add the legal profession, has largely collapsed under this corporate coup d'état that's taken place and is no longer functioning. And I want to get back, that what this is fundamentally a debate about is whether we are going to have, through the press, an independent institution within this country that can examine the inner workings of power or not. And it is nowI mean, many of us had suspected this widespread surveillance, but now that it's confirmed, we're seeingyou know, why did Snowden come out publicly? Well, because I think he knew that they would find out anyway, because they have all of Glenn Greenwald's email, phone records and everything else, and they can very quickly find out who he was speaking to and whether Snowden had contact with him. And thatyou know, I speak as reporteris terrifying, because it essentially shuts down any ability to counter the official propaganda and the official narrative and expose the crimes. And we have seen in the last few years tremendous crimes being committed by those in power. We have no ability now to investigate them.
I would add that the Fourth Amendment is dead as well:
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Hence, Oceania is on an even footing with Putin's Gangsterstan and the Beijing Ant Hill: no free press, no personal privacy.
All the shrieking fairies and carping harpies of the Ministry of Truth and Ivy-Covered Myth defend the Security State, slandering the Snowdens as they did the martyred president.
They are as O'Brien in the Inner Party. Truth is in the daily talking points.
War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength, QED Snowden is a traitor and Kennedy got what was coming to him.
There is no rational need for the constant permeating surveillance of entire populations--save that familiar to any student of Hitler, Stalin, Mao et al.
CHRIS HEDGES: Well, we're talking about the death of a free press, the death of a civil society. This is far beyond a reasonable debate. We make the East German Stasi state look like the Boy Scouts. And if we don't wrest back this power for privacy, for the capacity to investigate what our power elite is doing, I think we can essentially say our democracy has been snuffed out.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4852[/ATTACH]