06-18-2018, 08:46 AM
A little over a week ago, James Wolfe was indicted in the leaking of classified information. I didn't think much of the story at the time, even though in this action there were records of a reporter at the New York Times that were seized. I was listening to The Daily this morning, though, and it really made me think about this issue.
On the podcast, this morning, was Matt Apuzzo, who was one of the journalists targeted by Obama. I didn't think much of those actions, either. In both that case and the case of James Wolfe, my thought was "they are just trying to protect sensitive information." I don't like the way the Trump administration tries to demonize the press, but I didn't have an issue of them trying to batten down the hatches, so to speak. What really made me think differently was the way Apuzzo put it in the podcast. He talked about all sorts of things that have happened over the years: human rights issues at Gitmo, the use of drones, Obama's "kill list", the underwear bomber, all sorts of things that would have never come to light were it not for leakers of classified information. Of course, the things that the administrations took it upon themselves to leak were always things that made them look good. For instance, we know a ton about the operation that killed bin Laden, but all of that was (maybe still is) classified.
Apuzzo's point is that by targeting the press, by attacking that freedom of the press, the administration is forcing the public to rely on what they say from the podium. They are trying to be in charge of what the public knows, and that makes for an uninformed public. The administrations aren't concerned about the security of classified information, they are only concerned about image.
I'm not doing the discussion justice in this description, but it was interesting how it really shifted my thinking on this.
On the podcast, this morning, was Matt Apuzzo, who was one of the journalists targeted by Obama. I didn't think much of those actions, either. In both that case and the case of James Wolfe, my thought was "they are just trying to protect sensitive information." I don't like the way the Trump administration tries to demonize the press, but I didn't have an issue of them trying to batten down the hatches, so to speak. What really made me think differently was the way Apuzzo put it in the podcast. He talked about all sorts of things that have happened over the years: human rights issues at Gitmo, the use of drones, Obama's "kill list", the underwear bomber, all sorts of things that would have never come to light were it not for leakers of classified information. Of course, the things that the administrations took it upon themselves to leak were always things that made them look good. For instance, we know a ton about the operation that killed bin Laden, but all of that was (maybe still is) classified.
Apuzzo's point is that by targeting the press, by attacking that freedom of the press, the administration is forcing the public to rely on what they say from the podium. They are trying to be in charge of what the public knows, and that makes for an uninformed public. The administrations aren't concerned about the security of classified information, they are only concerned about image.
I'm not doing the discussion justice in this description, but it was interesting how it really shifted my thinking on this.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
