Eye in the Sky

Trey Smith

It used to be that journalists had a sporting chance of protecting their sources. The best and sometimes only way to identify a leaker was to pressure the reporter or news organization that received the leak, but even subpoenas tended to be resisted. Today, advances in surveillance technology allow the government to keep a perpetual eye on those with security clearances, and give prosecutors the ability to punish officials for disclosing secrets without provoking a clash with the press.

The changes have unsettled a decades-long accommodation between national security and press freedom, one in which the government did what it could to protect its secrets but exercised discretion in resorting to subpoenas and criminal charges when it failed. Even the administration of George W. Bush, no friend of leaks, more or less stuck to this script.

“The government does not pursue every leak,” said Mark Corallo, who served as the Justice Department’s spokesman in Mr. Bush’s administration. “On balance, it is more important that the media have the ability to report. It’s important to our democracy.”

That does not seem to be the view of the Obama administration, which has brought more prosecutions against current or former government officials for providing classified information to the media than every previous administration combined. (emphasis added)
~ from A High-Tech War on Leaks by Adam Liptak ~

What makes the last paragraph so stunning is that candidate Barack Obama lauded whistleblowers and stated unequivocally that they needed legal protections. Unfortunately, like so many presidential candidates before him, once he was elected, he has backtracked so fast it would make your head spin.

In fact, the Obama White House may well be the most secretive administration in the nation's history. Even though I am no fan of Obama, that is a difficult sentence to write. I never thought the nation's first black president could possibly eclipse the Bush administration in this arena and yet he has by a long shot.

If nothing else, this goes to show that it really doesn't matter if we have a Democrat or a Republican leading the nation. The old argument -- that the Democrats more represent the interests of the middle class and working poor -- no longer applies. Both parties solely serve the interests of the elite and the elite have decided they no longer want their dirty laundry aired to the public.