The pointless death of Aaron Swartz inspired Philadelphia Daily News “extremist” liberal columnist Will Bunch to fire a broadside at Barack Obama, yesterday, Jan. 15.
The reality is that . . . he’s
also expanded the power of the presidency at the expense of the public . . . Sometimes
alarmingly so, Bunch wrote.
The reality of the Obama administration so far is that the folks who
promised in 2009 “most transparent administration in history” have instead turned down Freedom of Information requests at a much higher rate than the oft-criticized Bush administration,
have continued to classify documents at an alarming level, and even
made unsuccessful attempts to water down a key FOIA provision and to
keep White House visitor logs a secret, Bunch wrote.
The administration that pledged to undo the excessive secrecy of the Bush years has seen its Justice Department prosecute six people under the Espionage Act
who’ve tried to blow the whistle on government corruption, including
unlawful torture — which is double the number prosecuted under all
past presidents put together, Bunch wrote.
The presidency that surged into office
four years ago promising to wipe away the moral stain of the Iraq War
years has instead chosen to conduct the cornerstone of its
anti-terrorism — drone strikes against purported terrorists on a “kill
list” — in utter secrecy; Bunch wrote.
Hey Will, welcome to the Tea Party.
Actually, if one clicks on the link to his article in the first paragraph one will see that Bunch includes a few obligatory digs at the Tea Party referring to it as “radical extremism” without defining the term.
Maybe Bunch ought to attend a Tea Party meeting and try real hard to keep an open mind as he listens to the issues they address.
Still, kudos for standing up for freedom.