Jeremy Scahill simply and plainly describes what is happening to the privacy and freedoms of all human beings on planet Earth under the Obama Administration.
He says, "Unless we, as a society make it our business to address the root cause of the problem, which is that corporations are running the the show in the United States, then I don't have any faith that [any] bill passed by Congress... is going to have any meaningful impact..."
"One of the fundamentals of a democratic society is a free and vibrant press and the role of journalists in a free and democratic society should be to hold those in power accountable...to give a voice to the voiceless, to fill in parts of the story that aren't being covered by those in power, and to provide information the people can use to make decisions about what policies to support or oppose.
"What is happening under Obama - and was certainly happening under Bush, is that journalism is being criminalized.
"If you are cutting too close the heart of the National Security State - we have whistleblowers that are being prosecuted in record numbers by the [so-called] 'Constitutional Law Expert'-President, you have journalists that are having their phone records seized, that are being surveilled, are having their discussions intruded upon - the end result of this is an attempt to chill whistleblowers and to stop...people from talking to journalists.
"When you have a White House such as we have right now...that engages in official leaks...they will leak Classified information or stories that make them look like the great defenders of peace, freedom and democracy around the world. [However,] almost everything they leaked in the immediate aftermath of the Osama Bin Laden raid turned out to be false - but they were managing the story.
"If journalists only have access to the official leaks and the pronouncements of the PR people, spinning for the White House, the Pentagon or the CIA, that's not a democratic press. That's not independently-verifiable information.
"What that is, is propaganda."
He says, "Unless we, as a society make it our business to address the root cause of the problem, which is that corporations are running the the show in the United States, then I don't have any faith that [any] bill passed by Congress... is going to have any meaningful impact..."
"One of the fundamentals of a democratic society is a free and vibrant press and the role of journalists in a free and democratic society should be to hold those in power accountable...to give a voice to the voiceless, to fill in parts of the story that aren't being covered by those in power, and to provide information the people can use to make decisions about what policies to support or oppose.
"What is happening under Obama - and was certainly happening under Bush, is that journalism is being criminalized.
"If you are cutting too close the heart of the National Security State - we have whistleblowers that are being prosecuted in record numbers by the [so-called] 'Constitutional Law Expert'-President, you have journalists that are having their phone records seized, that are being surveilled, are having their discussions intruded upon - the end result of this is an attempt to chill whistleblowers and to stop...people from talking to journalists.
"When you have a White House such as we have right now...that engages in official leaks...they will leak Classified information or stories that make them look like the great defenders of peace, freedom and democracy around the world. [However,] almost everything they leaked in the immediate aftermath of the Osama Bin Laden raid turned out to be false - but they were managing the story.
"If journalists only have access to the official leaks and the pronouncements of the PR people, spinning for the White House, the Pentagon or the CIA, that's not a democratic press. That's not independently-verifiable information.
"What that is, is propaganda."
