The Blurred Line Between Espionage and Truth

The Article: Blurred Line Between Espionage and Truth by David Carr in The New York Times.

The Text: Last Wednesday in the White House briefing room, the administration’s press secretary, Jay Carney, opened on a somber note, citing the deaths of Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, two reporters who had died “in order to bring truth” while reporting in Syria.

Jake Tapper, the White House correspondent for ABC News, pointed out that the administration had lauded brave reporting in distant lands more than once and then asked, “How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistle-blowers to court?”

He then suggested that the administration seemed to believe that “the truth should come out abroad; it shouldn’t come out here.”

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The Right’s Unfathomable Stupidity

The latest example: Obama’s so-called plot to raise a black army and disarm white gun owners. Sometimes I don’t believe in free speech…

Solving The 300 Million Illegal Immigrants Problem

The worst part is that even if Texas secedes, life will still be difficult.

Tavis Smiley And Bernie Sanders: The Interview

The Article: Senator Bernie Sanders Interviewed By Tavis Smiley in PBS.

The Text: Tavis: Bernie Sanders is the longest serving Independent in U.S. Congressional history now in his third term in the Senate from Vermont after 16 years in the House. In addition to his seat on the Senate Budget Committee, he is also the new Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee. He joins us tonight from Washington. Senator, it’s always good to have you back on this program, sir. Thanks for your time.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: Great to be with you, Tavis.

Tavis: Let me start with where we are now. We are caught between the president’s inauguration day speech and his State of the Union address. I want to cover both in just a second and so much more while I’ve got you tonight. But let me start with the inauguration speech. It’s the first time that you and I have had a chance to talk in person. I was in your state a few weeks ago and spoke in Burlington, as you know, but we didn’t get a chance to talk that day.

So let me just start by asking your thoughts about the inauguration speech. The media story on the speech was that it was a very liberal, very progressive, view that the president expressed for what he wanted to get done in the next four years. As, again, the longest serving Independent, how did you hear that speech?

Sanders: Well, you know, the phraseology of liberal, we have to ask ourselves exactly what that means. Was it a real tribute to the struggle of gay people in this country? Absolutely. First time gay issues were ever mentioned in an inaugural. Was it important that he mentioned global warming and the fact that global warming is the major planetary crisis this world faces? That was extremely important.

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Jimmy Carter On The Year’s “Best” Picture

Argo won gold at last night’s Academy Awards, but certainly not for its historical accuracy. Says Carter, “90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian,” Carter said. “And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception, the movie is very good…”

So in other words, congratulations, Ben?