Daniel Ellsberg: "Regime Of Lawlessness Under Bush Has Been Succeeded By A Regime Of Impunity"

http://www.opednews.com/articles/More-Ellsberg--The-Pentag-by-Joan-Brunwasser-100223-146.html

The Patriot Act and related legislation do have the effect of legalizing most of the actual crimes against me by Nixon. Sneak-and-peek entries and burglaries of a doctor's office, in search of information to use against a "terrorist suspect"? (i.e., someone like me who opposes and resists a president's terrorism). Legal, now. Warrantless wiretaps? Legal. Use of CIA against an American citizen? Legal.

More Ellsberg: The Pentagon Papers and John Dean, Then and Now

By Joan Brunwasser

opednews.com

Brunwasser: My guest today is "the most dangerous man* in America" whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. When you released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, you knew that you could be facing life in prison. Luckily, that turned out not to be the case. But, if you were to have done comparable actions since the passage of the Patriot Act, they would have tossed you in prison and thrown away the key. That's a sobering, concrete example of where we are almost forty years later. Do you ever think about that?

Ellsberg: Good question. Actually, although (unknown to me and almost everyone else) the prior law was on my side in 1971-73, I came pretty close to spending 115 years in prison then. With good behavior, I would have gotten out (after 35 years) in 2008. It took a lot of luck, and a handful of individuals who told the truth (John Dean about the burglary, someone in the FBI about the electronic overhearing) to overcome the attempts of the president to bribe my judge with the directorship of the FBI.

And even before the Patriot Act, the trend of legal opinions--the terrible judgments in the Samuel Loring Morison case in 1984, an increasing disregard of legislative history which had weighed against using the Espionage Act as an Official Secrets Act--was against the chances for a future leaker of classified information. The Patriot Act itself didn't affect this situation that much. It doesn't include an Official Secrets Act--almost by oversight--though another 9-11 could almost surely get us one, even from Obama.

However, the Patriot Act and related legislation do have the effect of legalizing most of the actual crimes against me by Nixon. Sneak-and-peek entries and burglaries of a doctor's office, in search of information to use against a "terrorist suspect"? (i.e., someone like me who opposes and resists a president's terrorism). Legal, now. Warrantless wiretaps? Legal. Use of CIA against an American citizen? Legal.

So, a president doing to someone what Nixon did to me would now not be in danger of prosecution or impeachment for it; he wouldn't have to commit new crimes of obstruction of justice, including bribery (of Hunt) and incitement of false testimony, to cover himself. He could now do such things with impunity.

Even the effort to "incapacitate (me) totally," on May 3, 1972, is now authorized by President Obama against American citizens who are "suspects" outside U.S. territory. How long will it be before that's turned against citizens who obstruct presidential policy while they're in the States?

Even before 9-11 in 2001, but culminating in the days immediately after that, there was a virtual executive coup against the U.S. Constitution. And our constitutional law professor (a status still represented by John Yoo in Berkeley) in the Oval Office has taken not one real step (except for releasing a handful of Yoo's memos) to reverse that coup, which remains in effect, now with the bipartisan endorsement of Democrats both in Congress and the White House, putting it outside the realm of political controversy.

As someone has said, the regime of lawlessness under Bush has been succeeded by a regime of impunity, under Obama. With his refusal to prosecute or even investigate blatant crimes under Bush, Obama has actually decriminalized torture, without formally rescinding its blatant illegality.

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:(

n/t

Oh well..no doubt America will be stronger and better and more unified as a result of not prosecuting.

lololololololol

;)

regime was prepared to continue their reign using some of Yoo's magic, e.g., martial law. But the devil said that just might piss off the population and the teabaggers and radical leftys might unite and actually do something. So the devil made a deal with Pre. Obama. Obama can become president if there is no prosecution of Bush/Cheney, etc. and that Pres Obama leave in place the Dept of Justice, Patriot Act, etc.

I know it sound paranoid and conspiratorial, but it's the best I can come up with. I will listen to alternate theories.

PS: I do not believe Cheney is the devil, but possibly the devil's offspring in his own (devil's) image.