A large group of noted whistleblowers--including Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers--has written an open letter asking that the "transparency award" given to President Obama by five open government organizations in March be rescinded.In the letter, published in the UK Guardian, the group of 50 individuals and watchdog organizations called the Obama administration's record on secrecy and surveillance "a disgrace."
The group claims that petitioners have filed more Freedom of Information Act requests made during Obama's first term--with fewer responses--than have been logged in previous years; that the administration has squashed "legal inquiries into secret illegalities more often than any predecessor" and "amassed the worst record in U.S. history for persecuting, prosecuting and jailing government whistleblowers and truth-tellers," including WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning. The letter also notes that the White House has refused to make its visitor logs public, while overseeing a 15 percent spike last year in budgetary outlays for classifying secrets. The Obama administration has spent $10 billion in enforcing secrecy protocols, the letter notes--the first time any White House has eclipsed that mark."Obama's department of justice is twisting the 1917 Espionage Act to press criminal charges in five alleged instances of national security leaks," the letter reads, "more such prosecutions than have occurred in all previous administrations combined."
Maybe the leg tingling dumb-fucks should have waited to see if Obumble actually was worth the award before awarding it to him? Hmmmm?