Jennifer Hoelzer, Former Wyden Aide, Unleashes On Obama Administration Secrecy

[silvershadow]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- A former top aide to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) fired back at the Obama administration this weekend, challenging the president's assertion Friday that he welcomed a debate on privacy and national security and that Congress had been fully briefed.

Jennifer Hoelzer was a longtime aide to Wyden until recently, and vented her frustration in a way she couldn't as his communications director or deputy chief of staff. Hoelzer wrote on TechDirt that she was stunned to see President Obama claim he wanted such a conversation after she had worked for years to beg and plead with the administration to declassify material so that an actual debate could take place.

Really, Mr. President? Do you really expect me to believe that you give a damn about open debate and the democratic process? Because it seems to me if your Administration was really committed those things, your Administration wouldn't have blocked every effort to have an open debate on these issues each time the laws that your Administration claims authorizes these programs came up for reauthorization, which -- correct me if I am wrong -- is when the democratic process recommends as the ideal time for these debates.

For example, in June 2009, six months before Congress would have to vote to reauthorize Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the Obama Administration claims gives the NSA the authority to collect records on basically every American citizen -- whether they have ever or will ever come in contact with a terrorist -- Senators Wyden, Feingold and Durbin sent Attorney General Eric Holder a classified letter "requesting the declassification of information which [they] argued was critical for a productive debate on reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act."


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/11/jennifer-hoelzer-obama-nsa_n_3739639.html

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more at link

[Autumn]

1. Recommended.

[warrant46]

43. Stunning

[democrank]

2. K & R

[Mojorabbit]

3. And there it is. nt

[cosmicone]

4. President Obama was "turned" by the MIC

and is now parroting the CIA, NSA and Pentagon talking points.

[silvershadow]

7. I believe it happened upon (or before) inauguration. But that's just me. nt

[deurbano]

9. That FISA vote happened even before the general election.

[BrotherIvan]

17. Occam's Razor

That hypothesis fails the test.

[OnyxCollie]

5. I heard that she's a boxer who dances with Poles in her garage while drinking raw milk.

Obviously, her hair-on-fire hyperbole is not to be believed.

[xchrom]

6. !

[dgauss]

13. Those types hate government, just like Republicans.

There, that should settle the matter.

[Enthusiast]

20. She's a secret Rand Paul admirer.

[OnyxCollie]

23. It's no secret.

She's got an "Atlas Shrugged" tramp stamp.

I've seen an artist's rendition of it.

[AzDar]

8. K & R

[AZ Progressive]

10. So Obama has resorted to outright lying...

Whats next?

People are stupid if they trust a politician because they think they know them. Politics is among the areas of society that is more skilled in tactical psychology, or manipulation of people through psychological means (what do you think they do when they develop campaign strategy?) Thus, you have to suspect the character of politicians the way you would do of used car salesmen or mechanics or dentists.

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

22. AZ progressive?

Oxymoron, no?

[L0oniX]

11. Well she must be a republican dino plant. Anyone who criticizes Obama is a freeper troll donchaknow.

[PSPS]

12. Yes, our "constitutional scholar" president thinks we should "debate" the bill of rights.

Oh well, he's off vacationing on our dime, safe in the knowledge that our every utterance is being dutifully recorded and stored for later perusal.

[silvershadow]

15. We wouldn't be debating without the whilstleblower....er, I guess the term is traitor?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

16. Not fair.

It's not like POTUS doesn't work while he's on vacation. "On our dime" sounds like bitter Rush Limbaugh talk. I'm not a fan of all this spying either but I think its systematic and shouldn't be laid solely at the feet of Obama.

[Maedhros]

30. But, of all the people in the world, Obama has more power to dismantle the NSA program

than anyone else. He can get any details he wants, he can issue directives to the DNI and NSA Director, he can issue executive orders to stop the surveillance program. But instead he goes-along-to-get-along.

[WillyT]

14. HUGE K & R !!!

[JackRiddler]

18. k

[Enthusiast]

19. Under the bus with Jennifer Hoelzer!

How dare she?

[Maedhros]

31. That sounds like an awesome weekend pundit show.

(catchy newsy intro music)

"Good afternoon, and welcome to "Under The Bus." I'm your host, Jennifer Hoelzer, and our guests today are Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, and columnist Glenn Greenwald."

[Enthusiast]

34. Hey! Never thought of it that way.

[kelliekat44]

21. TShe has thrown enough people under to keep her company. nt

[sulphurdunn]

24. The Democrats determined

years ago that they can win national elections without liberal or labor support, but they can't do without corporate money. Hence, the Democratic leadership can show contempt for them. The Republicans, who are owned by the same money, have a dilemma because they can't do without their teabaggers and must kiss their asses. Until progressives have as much power over Democrats, the party leadership will continue to condescend to and then ignore them.

[Maedhros]

32. The only leverage Progressives have is their vote.

As long as we keep giving it up without any concessions in return, we will continue to get regressive policies from the Democrats.

[silvershadow]

35. To my mind, progressivism will either continue to be embraced by the party and expanded, or else

it will simply splinter, much as the tea party has fractured the Republicans into camps right now. Who knows, maybe we are already there? I just know that I, and many others, are likely to not budge on certain issues, politically, until the United States of America is restored to some kind of functioning democracy...if a former POTUS says we no longer have one, it should shock the conscience of every American...it's something I never, in my wildest imagination, could ever have imagined, yet here we are. :/

[Maedhros]

36. Business As Usual

is just not going to cut it, going forward.

[pscot]

25. It's the hypocricy that burns

I actually believed in the guy early on.

[ConcernedCanuk]

33. I don't think it's hypocrisy

.
.
.

It's the simple fact that Presidents are run by the corporations and outfits like the MIC, Big Oil, big Pharma and so on.

Obama is a smart and caring President IMO, but he cannot effect changes if he is dead.

Think JFK . . .

He tried,

He died.

eom

CC

[sulphurdunn]

39. Even Kennedy

was a status quo President, but he did reign in the MIC and avert nuclear war. He also intended to pull the plug on Vietnam. Both decisions were fatal miscalculations.

[NorthCarolina]

40. I think EO 11110 played a large role attributing to his 'fatal miscalculation'. nt

[MotherPetrie]

26. K&R

[Mnemosyne]

27. K&R nt

[William deB. Mills]

28. The Latest Whistleblower

Jennifer Hoelzer has now become the nation's newest whistleblower and has committed the worst political sin possible in this country - she has made a fool and a liar of the President. We need to keep an eye on her. She will come under attack. Indeed, she will probably be called a "terrorist" for the Washington elitists indeed seem terrified of popular opinion. Ms Hoelzer demonstrated courage...in many quarters she will surely suffer from lifetime blacklisting for "not being a team player," i.e., for supporting the public interest instead of the interests of the elite.

Ms Hoelzer had a fascinating interview in the Washington Post two months ago. The country should have paid more attention to it. From what we now no, every word she said in that interview was important. One key statement:

"I should say that while I have concerns about this program, this isn’t, for me, about the program per se. I began at the Navy College. I’m pretty pro-national security. But this isn’t how a democracy works. The American people need to have a say in the laws that govern them. This is a debate we should be having now. If the administration thinks they need this program, they should’ve been showing us evidence and arguing that. But they’ve been substituting their judgment for this country’s judgment." [Washington Post 6/7/13.]

[cantbeserious]

42. The Father Knows Best Mentality - Very Republican

eom

[Jackpine Radical]

45. Jennifer Hoelzer probably has boxes in her garage.

Some say she moonlights as a pole dancer.

[bbkenn92]

48. Umm 911????

[ronnie624]

52. The probability of you dying in a terrorist attack is very tiny.

In no way does it justify the effort and expense of the 'global war on terror' or the trashing of the constitution.

And as horrific as the 9/11 terrorist attack was, it cannot match the the terror inflicted by US policies of duplicity, aggression and dominance in other countries during the past 60 years.

The way to reduce the risk posed by terrorism, is not through aggression, dominance and oppression (the very things that inspire terrorism to begin with), but to work in cooperation with the other members of the global community as equals instead of masters.

[wildbilln864]

54. I would guess....

we'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning twice than being killed in a terrorist attack.

[840high]

29. k/r x10

[99th_Monkey]

37. You can fool all the people some of the time,

some of the people all of the time,
but not all peeps all of the time.

Isn't that how the adage goes?

I'm proud of this woman, putting herself on the line
this way. She didn't have to do this.

[Celefin]

38. It's official. You've been had.

A Democratic President opposing (and lying about) the democratic process and implying that the constitution should be the subject of 'debate'. And all than on a platform of hope, change and transparency that had the whole world excited.

I feel well and truly sorry for my American friends.
Sad.

[cantbeserious]

41. The Vindication Of Truth - Ever So Sweet

eom

[Jackpine Radical]

44. Snowden is a villain, not a hero. His GF is a pole dancer.

Boxes in his garage.

There was nothing new in what he released. However, the US was irreparably damaged by the stuff he released.

Russia is homophobic. Snowden should have stayed here & faced the music.

Glenn Greenwald supported the invasion of Iraq. He's a Paulite.

What am I missing?

[BridgeTheGap]

46. Former NSA Official, Thomas Drake, disagrees with you. He should know.

http://www.thetakeaway.org/2013/jun/26/nsa-leaker-thomas-drake-edward-snowdens-case/

[Jackpine Radical]

47. **sigh**

Can I help it if I have an allergy to the Sarcasm thingie?

[a2liberal]

50. Poe's Law

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law

I thought the sarcasm in your post was pretty obvious, but sometimes it's hard to tell because some people here say all the same things you said but mean it.

[Jackpine Radical]

51. Yeah, I'm familiar with Poe's Law.

But I keep violating it anyway.

[BridgeTheGap]

55. Sorry. Foggy brain in the morning. n.t

[Jackpine Radical]

57. Well, it IS hard to lampoon this stuff in a way that couldn't reasonably

be taken as the genuine article.

[Doctor_J]

49. Damn. Another racist who didn't get a pony. Or maybe a PUMA.

OTOH Wyden was for SP until he ran for Senate, at which time Big Insurance wrote him a big check and he was suddenly in favor or market-based HC. Not many reps of the people left in DC. A housecleaning is coming

[School Teacher]

53. Family to Protect

Canuk, You are right, I think. Obama has a family to protect. He does not want to be JFk'd.

[cstanleytech]

56. I would be more impressed if this was Sen. Ron Wyden saying this rather than

a former aide who may or may not been aware of all the classified programs Sen. Wyden has been briefed on.