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Greenwald: Obama’s new free speech threat
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/16/obamas_new_free_speech_threat/singleton/Wednesday, May 16, 2012 08:48 AM EDT
Obama’s new free speech threat
An Executive order seeks to punish U.S. citizens even for "indirectly" obstructing dictatorial rule in Yemen
By Glenn Greenwald
(updated below – Update II)
There is substantial opposition in both Yemen and the West to the new U.S.-backed Yemeni President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi was the long-time Vice President of the Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, and after Saleh finally stepped down last year, Hadi became President as part of an “election” in which he was the only candidate (that little fact did not prevent Hillary Clinton from congratulating Yemen “on today’s successful presidential election” (successful because the U.S. liked the undemocratic outcome)). As it does with most U.S.-compliant dictators in the region, the Obama administration has since been propping up Hadi with large amounts of money and military assistance, but it is now taking a much more extreme step to ensure he remains entrenched in power — a step that threatens not only basic liberties in Yemen but in the U.S. as well:
President Obama plans to issue an executive order Wednesday giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen.
The unusual order, which administration officials said also targets U.S. citizens who engage in activity deemed to threaten Yemen’s security or political stability, is the first issued for Yemen that does not directly relate to counterterrorism.
<edit>
UPDATE II: The Executive Order has now been issued and, as Marcy Wheeler notes, it is extremely similar to what the Post article described (which makes sense given that the Post article was based on the statements of anonymous officials authorized to speak about it). The EO blocks the assets of “any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have engaged in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen.” One difference between this EO and the prior one issued for Somalia is that this one exempts U.S. government agencies, which means, as Wheeler puts it, that “while Obama doesn’t want you, or Ali Abdullah Saleh’s leave-behinds, or the AP to destabilize Yemen, he reserves the right for US government employees, grantees, or contractors to do so. Which presumably means, as happened in Afghanistan, we are and plan to continue paying some of the people who are in violation of this EO.” It is, then, in so many respects, a perfect expression of American justice when it comes to the War on Terror.
14 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Glenn Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor (columnist and blogger) to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics.[1] He has also contributed to other newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times,[2][3][4] The Los Angeles Times,[5] The Guardian,[6][7][8] The American Conservative,[9] The National Interest,[10] and In These Times.[11][12]
Greenwald has written four books, three of which have been New York Times bestsellers: How Would a Patriot Act? (2006); A Tragic Legacy (2007), and With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, released in October 2011. He also wrote Great American Hypocrites (2008).
In March 2009, he was selected, along with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, as the recipient of the first annual Izzy Award by the Park Center for Independent Media, an award named after independent journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone and devoted to rewarding excellence in independent journalism. The selection panel cited Greenwald's "pathbreaking journalistic courage and persistence in confronting conventional wisdom, official deception and controversial issues."[13]
In October 2010, he won the Online Journalism Award for Best Commentary, for his investigative article on the arrest of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning as the alleged leaker to WikiLeaks.[14] The same year, he was a Finalist for the National Magazine Awards category of "excellence in online reporting and commentary published as a blog."[15]
His commentaries "on surveillance issues and separation of powers" have been cited in The New York Times, in The Washington Post, in United States Senate floor debates, and in House "official ... reports on executive power abuses,"[16] and he appears on various radio and television programs as a guest political pundit.
Greenwald has written four books, three of which have been New York Times bestsellers: How Would a Patriot Act? (2006); A Tragic Legacy (2007), and With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, released in October 2011. He also wrote Great American Hypocrites (2008).
In March 2009, he was selected, along with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, as the recipient of the first annual Izzy Award by the Park Center for Independent Media, an award named after independent journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone and devoted to rewarding excellence in independent journalism. The selection panel cited Greenwald's "pathbreaking journalistic courage and persistence in confronting conventional wisdom, official deception and controversial issues."[13]
In October 2010, he won the Online Journalism Award for Best Commentary, for his investigative article on the arrest of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning as the alleged leaker to WikiLeaks.[14] The same year, he was a Finalist for the National Magazine Awards category of "excellence in online reporting and commentary published as a blog."[15]
His commentaries "on surveillance issues and separation of powers" have been cited in The New York Times, in The Washington Post, in United States Senate floor debates, and in House "official ... reports on executive power abuses,"[16] and he appears on various radio and television programs as a guest political pundit.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald
You know... if one wanted to disagree with Greenwald... one might wanna come up with a cogent counter-argument.
At least you'd think...
I guess for some people "He's just trying to get Ron Paul elected" is counter-argument enough.
Free speech? Not really. You can post freely about your concerns with Yemen, and nobody's going to bother you. Unless you provide some sort of material support that has some effect on Yemen, nobody's going to give a crap.
Now, if you're a prominent person who speaks to people who can materially affect Yemen, and encourages them to take action, donate money, or do some other form of action that threatens the "peace, security, or stability" of Yemen, you might want to consider carefully what you're doing and weigh the risks. But, if you're some DUer posting on DU about your distaste for Yemen's current situation, it will have no effect, and will not draw any interest.
I think that Greenwald doesn't have to worry about this, and I'm certain no DUer has to worry about this.
Edit to add: Greenwald is famous for doing exactly this - taking some EO or law and extending it far beyond what the language in the EO or law actually supports. Constantly doing an "worst possible case" analysis of normal documents is akin to crying "Wolf!" After a while, nobody with any sense listens to such things. Maybe he'll mention me again in his writings...