General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWelcome to Post-Constitution America
Welcome to Post-Constitution AmericaWhat If Your Country Begins to Change and No One Notices?
Monday, August 5, 2013 * by Peter Van Buren * Common Dreams
On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states.
Two hundred thirty-five years later, on July 30, 2013, Bradley Manning was found guilty on 20 of the 22 charges for which he was prosecuted, specifically for espionage and for videos of war atrocities he released, but not for aiding the enemy.
Days after the verdict, with sentencing hearings in which Manning could receive 136 years of prison time ongoing, the pundits have had their say. The problem is that they missed the most chilling aspect of the Manning case: the way it ushered us, almost unnoticed, into post-Constitutional America.
The Weapons of War Come Home
Even before the Manning trial began, the emerging look of that new America was coming into view. In recent years, weapons, tactics, and techniques developed in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in the war on terror have begun arriving in the homeland.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/05-3
Koios
(154 posts)... Congress or other proper authority. Plus the information being classified put it in a category making it against the law to convey to any without sufficient clearance.
Meanwhile, the spying program is ridiculous, and should be stopped, as Obama said he would ... only to scale it up, scoring a "0" on the integrity scale from 0 to 10.
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)This will be one nervous week for moi.
rwsanders
(2,594 posts)I wonder if the whole thing with Bin Laden was a show too. Bushco left him out there as a boogeyman, so it was an easy thing to set up a kill with all sorts of pomp and glory afterward including books and movies (when does that usually happen after a "secret" operation). Then take credit for "killing" this figure that wasn't out there.
Similarly, there was criticism over Benghazi, so create a new "threat" stop an "attack" and the next candidate comes through untarnished and with anti-terrorism cred.
Who knows anymore.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)The next "Big Event" will likely change the system to something beyond feudal.
Gen. Alexander is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.