Full Transcript for my Segment on Whistleblowing, Snowden, Manning, Assange and Greenwald

[Savannahmann]

19. Option one was tried.

Again, Senator Wyden tried to bring some of it to light by asking an unscripted question, in violation of the understanding I might add, and James Clapper lied under oath to the Senate. You might want to read up on the outrage of the Senators that Wyden would do that by the way. Now your idea of oversight might include getting your questions approved beforehand by the guy who is reporting to you, but that is not what the rest of us imagine when we think of oversight.

So option one was tried, by those "in the know" who were deeply disturbed by the secret actions of the Government. They were unable to effect the change, because there was no public opinion to back them, no outrage of the governed. Now, we are seeing changes. Just today it was announced that the Justice Department is going to re-examine the question of the DEA advising people to lie about how investigations get started. I can tell you the ACLU answer before it is even given. It is a huge violation of the rules of court, and a major violation of the discovery process to lie about the information you had, and when you got it. Again this has been happening since 1994, so how many thousands of people were locked up because of these lies told under oath in a court of law?

Option one had been tried, and tried by more than one person. Option two was the only recourse remaining. Your defense of the immoral and illegal actions of the Government is paper thin, demanding that people remain in the boxes when they see systemic abuses happening all around them. The oath they took, every single one of them was to defend the Constitution, not the people. The Constitution is supposed to be our highest duty, our highest law. Shredding that document under the specious argument that it will save lives is asinine. Defending those abuses is beyond even that.

Many times on this board, people have blasted former Colonel West, the lunatic Congressman from Florida. He was court martialed for torturing a prisoner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_West_(politician)#Iraq_interrogation_incident The court upheld his actions by operating on the same premise you now propose. They are acting to save lives is the argument. The problem is that what action is beyond the pale. What is too much when all the justification needed is that you are working to save lives?

The show 24 was fiction, we've seen it, some of us have seen more than others. I stopped watching an hour into the second season when Jack Bower shot a prisoner, and cut his head off and put it into a bag. Jack was only working to save lives right? We should commend him, and any action he takes because he's dedicated to save lives.

I don't commend the torturer West. There are things we aren't supposed to do, and the ticking time bomb scenario is bullshit. The ends never justify the means. The only reason we are having this discussion is because Manning, and then Snowden told us the truth about what was going on. What illegal and immoral programs were being undertaken in our names.

If we don't respect our Constitution, then how can we ask anyone to respect us? If we don't keep our words regarding our highest law, then why would anyone believe us? If we are going to spy on the world, what makes us think that we won't end up as pariah's, virtual outcasts among the civilized nations. We are rapidly becoming the next global enemy that the world is going to oppose.

This isn't Snowden's fault, or Manning's fault, or anyone who told the truth. It is the fault of those who took the illegal and immoral actions in the first place. It is the fault of those who would like yourself, rush to defend the programs by arguing that those with a conscience should never speak out and instead keep the illegal activities and actions secret.

So continue to blame the messenger if it makes you feel better. The rest of us, the rest of the world will instead focus on the message, and demand answers of those in power. Sadly, they have little more to say than you do, that the messenger screwed up by telling anyone.