As Trina noted last night, the same administration that's working overtime to reduce the sentence of felon and corporate crook Jeffrey Skilling is going full out on the latest whistle-blower Ed Snoweden. Today on NPR's hourly news summaries, Louis Schiavone noted the latest developments.
Louise Schiavone: US officials say bilateral relations between the US and Hong Kong are at stake in the case of a former contractor facing federal espionage charges. The US wants to prosecute Edward Snowden for leaking national security secrets to the media. Snowden is believed to be in Hong Kong.
Alan Gomez (USA Today) reports:
A one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in
federal court in Alexandria, Va., part of the Eastern District of
Virginia where his former employer, government contractor Booz Allen
Hamilton, is headquartered, in McLean. He is charged with unauthorized
communication of national defense information, willful communication of
classified communications intelligence information and theft of
government property. The first two are under the Espionage Act and each
of the three crimes carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on
conviction.
The complaint is dated June 14, five days after
Snowden's name first surfaced as the person who had leaked to the news
media that the NSA, in two highly classified surveillance programs,
gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.
While the White House may be in caterwauling wail mode, Conal Urquhart (Guardian) cautions, "Any attempt by the US to extradite the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden from Hong Kong for espionage could take years and be blocked by China, legal experts have said."
This is how Barack metes out justice. Screw over the country and, infamously, Grandma Millie and Barack will get your sentence reduced. Tell the truth about an important program the American people need to know about Barack will come after you with ever thing his office and the Justice Dept have to hang you.
That's the real Barack.
Meanwhile, an e-mail asked about the Elaine May and Mike Nichols routine quoted in a snapshot this week. Specifically, the e-mailer noted that NYT has the words different than I do.
Thanks for writing and I could have been wrong.
Here's how I presented it:
Mike Nichols: It's a moral issue.
Elaine May: Yes!
Mike Nichols: A moral issue.
Elaine May: Yes! Yes! Yes! It is a moral issue.
Mike Nichols: A moral issue.
Elaine May: And to me that's always so much more interesting than a real issue
That is different from the way the e-mailer says the New York Times has looked around and a clip of them performing the skit (introduced by Henry Fonda) can be found in that posted video. The exchange starts at about 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
As I read over what I wrote and what they said, it tracks.
Now this was a popular sketch and the New York Times (or others) may be thinking of a different version of the skit, I don't know.
But I do know it's a classic sketch and Elaine's last line quoted above is often repeated -- in one form or another -- because it really nails it.
And, as we noted, the 'morality' debate allowed the War Hawk to ignore the legality of the Iraq War itself -- which was his whole point.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
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