The Power to Punish Dissenters

I donate money to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which operates in conflict zones all over the world - many of them targets in the never-ending Permanent War on The Imaginary Terror Monsters Under the Bed.

MSF does not demand its patients prove their anti-terror bonafides before getting treatment for wounds from U.S.-drone-dropped bombs. Under the Homeland Battlefield Act, that could make me a Supporter of Terrorism.

Kevin Gosztola at Firedoglake:

uman rights and are concerned that the law’s language is “dangerously vague” and grants the US government the power to “arrest any American citizen (or anyone, anywhere) without warrant and to indefinitely detain them without any charge.”

The Obama administration has put some public relations effort into insisting that of course it would not use the act to prosecute innocent charitable givers or professional journalists - no, of course not.

But we don't even have to wait for the inevitable repug administration to see the president use dictatorial power to punish political enemies.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Usually, the Espionage Act is forgotten about but the government has occasionally brought it out to crack down on people it wanted to silence. It was the Espionage Act that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged with violating when they gave secrets to the Soviet Union. Nixon used it unsuccessfully to prosecute Daniel Ellsberg and others for leaking the Pentagon Papers.

Today, the Obama Administration has revived the Espionage Act in a broader way than probably any administration since Wilson. David Carr details how aggressively Obama has used the law to crack down on whistleblowers and leakers within the government. This is really unacceptable. The Obama Administration is completely hypocritical in praising freedom of the press overseas while using the Espionage Act to protect its own actions at home. I’m usually fairly unsympathetic to Glenn Greenwald’s argument that Democrats allow Democratic Administrations to get away scot free with actions that they would howl about if Republicans were doing them, but in this case, that line of argument makes sense. Were this the administration of George W. Bush and John Ashcroft, this would be a major story of how the Republicans don’t respect our basic rights. Instead, the use of the Espionage Act against leakers and whistleblowers is a blip on the radar of the Democratic public.

This is wrong. The Espionage Act needs to be repealed immediately and President Obama needs to be called to the carpet on his use of this loathsome law. Moreover, I don’t think historians look back kindly on any situation when the government has used this law. It always reeks of repression and is a black mark on any administration. I don’t want historians to look back on Obama in 50 years and see a president who used an antiquated and repressive law to eliminate low-level leaks in his administration. Alas, that is the road the president presently drives.

Vote for President Obama. Encourage everyone you know to vote for President Obama. But don't pretend President Obama is above using dictatorial powers to suppress democratic dissent.