"DISGRACEFUL" DISCLOSURES--"TIME OF WAR" EXCUSE AGAIN TROTTED OUT

Oh for Pete's sake...this is so aggravating to have to constantly respond to this shit. Bush and Cheney again trot out the old "we're at war" canard (through Tony Snowjob) regarding the press coverage of a CIA-Treasury Dept. program that sifts through bank transactions that supposedly helps catch "terrorists."

Cheney in particular comes off like he thinks he's America's daddy or America's study hall teacher, saying that the New York Times "had been asked not to publish" such information by "senior administration officials." Cheney needs to get a grip--there's a reason we have a First Amendment, battered and bruised though it may be.

And Snow had the best comments of all:

That’s what this is all about. It’s about what we can do in a time of war.
Traditionally in this country in a time of war members of the press have acknowledged that the commander in chief, in the exercise of his powers, sometimes has to do things secretly in order to protect the public. This is a highly unusual departure. It’s interesting; the Times talking about this program having been a departure from previous banking efforts. This is also a departure from the longstanding traditions here in the United States.

Oh yeah, "it's about what we can do in a time of war"--that's Bush's golden ticket, it's where his bread is buttered, and it's the only thing standing between him and certain impeachment. And this "tradition" that he refers to of the press allowing the president to do things in secret "in order to protect the public"--when has that ever been a tradition in America? Was it a tradition when the My Lai massacre was uncovered? Was it a tradition when the Pentagon Papers were published? Was it a tradition when the Clinton/Lewinsky affair was revealed?

Fuck that shit--they aren't interested in "protecting the public." They're only interested in protecting their profits, their power, and their cowardly asses from criminal prosecution. This kind of putrid nonsense that Snow is spewing is the most anti-American bullshit that I can think of.

The Press Couldn't Be Further Up Bush's Ass

I mean, for god's sake, the press couldn't have a more torrid love affair with Herr Bush. One journalist even admitted that she and her colleagues were "suckers" for stunts like Bush's recent 5-hour trip to Baghdad.

I mean, the press says what Bush tells them to say. For crying out loud, going back to what Cheney was whining about above--that his goons asked the NYT not to publish this new banking story--he also made reference to the fact that the NYT was asked not to publish the NSA wiretapping story.

And you know what? They didn't!!! For a whole motherfucking year!! They knew about the program even before the 2004 election and they agreed to not run the story then!! If that isn't a compliant, lapdog press that serves power instead of the people, I don't know what the hell is! I mean, the NYT helped Bush get re-elected and now he wants to dump on them.

And yet the Cheney administration is still not satisfied. And the theocons want to investigate and prosecute journalists. All because "we're at war." Good people, this is too much. It's too much.

We must end the occupation of Iraq and not start a war with Iran if the Constitution is to survive. It's that serious.