In before Fox News: “Obama indicts 4-star general, disrespects all those who served our country”
I can think of a few other former and current CIA heads I’d indict before this guy.
The right wing loonies are eating this up, the KockBroTeaBaggers will foam at the mouth, run around and bite each other tails. Actually it’s the best show on Earth, kind’a sad too!
Well, it was good for the goose. right?
I was prosecuted by the feds for a bullshit deal. It cost me thousands of bucks in lawyer fees and travel to where I was arraigned and had to appear. I plead out with stupid requirements in my probation. Uncle Sam felt no problem with fucking me over when even the AUSA wanted to drop the case because it was a bullshit misdemeanor. But, the law is the law. So I got mine. Now for this asshole…
I gotta say it. I know it’s rude and improper. It has stuck in my mind ever since I read about this guy leaking stuff and maybe being indicted.
I hope that was good pussy and well worth breaking the law, David Petraeus. And I hope Uncle Sam sticks it up yours like he stuck it up mine. Fair is fair.
The DoD is VERY clear when it comes to informing employees and service members on the penalties for violating security regulations. And that the mere potential of damage is all that matters…It is sometimes less clear on what the actual procedures are required for compliance, but trust me the general received training (or at least certified that he had completed training) every single year that he was in the service.
There are laws against torture as well. I wonder when those will be applied to the high level officials who are bragging about their crimes? Enjoy.
I understand the whole concept of chilling effects, and I think Snowden did a lot of good with his leaks.
However, I suspect that Petraeus’ leaks were utterly self-serving. I also suspect that he would have crushed any subordinate who committed similar acts.
Also, I think it’s probably a good precedent to prosecute the heads of these agencies for their skullduggery.
Now if we can go after Congress for an obvious quid-pro-quo in the budget (deregulating banks’ reckless investing schemes in exchange for relaxed limits on campaign contributions from Wall Street), that would be great.
No no no, this is all wrong. The Espionage Act is for dirty fucking hippies… not for Generals!
I think the idea is to treat all leaks equally (in theory- I know prosecutions haven’t always followed this). The theory is classified is classified and you don’t get to decide what is somehow worthy of leaking. In practice, however, its different. I think Snowden acted heroically. I have more problems with Manning because the leak of such a huge number of documents was indescriminate, I have as yet to meet someone who can say they think Manning actually read and assessed them all (whether for harm or for whether they needed to be leaked) and keep a straight face. Some things certainly rise to the level of whistleblower, some do not. I think the video of journalists being fired in by drones that Manning leaked did meet that mark, not so much dumping a ton of classified info onto the internet. In terms of damage, we honestly won’t know for decades what the damage might have been for any of these leaks, because classified, sometimes with reason, sometimes without. At CIA headquarters the entrance hall has a star for every OSS and CIA agent killed in the line of duty. There is a book with the names if the agents as well. Some are still blank 20 years later because they are still classified. Pun sorta intended, but when I looked through the book it was spooky.
Edited to say I got a tour and am NOT now and never have been a member of the clandestine services. This is for clarification, and also because I neither want to claim the good they have done, nor be associated with the bad they have done. There are certainly people in that field who have done either, neither, or both.
Just sayin’ . . .
Sorry if pointing out the obvious… He screwed himself? Certailnly appears that way. 8)
As much as I’d like to think better of them, I suspect that all DC will whine insufferably about how unjust it is to subject important people to laws designed for little people, rather than do much soul searching about those laws, if Petreus ends up going down.
If we thought things were out of control with the democrats in power, we’re about to reach a whole new level of CYA now that congresshouse is controlled by the fox news folk.
Yeah BUT: the penalty for accidental disclosure is typically reprimand and requirement that the offender and his company review and fix their procedures. For a real example - I know of someone who carried a classified note into the “open” area of his workplace by accident because it was a Post-It note that fell to the floor and got stuck to his shoe. Remedial procedures included not using PostIts and being more careful to do a "full body check’ when leaving the area. But not even a hint of prosecution.
“if Petraeus ends up going down…” <-- that’s what got him into this mess in the first place!
Indeed. However, sometimes those consequences are positive, not negative. It all depends on whether you’re a member of the Ruling Class or one of the rabble.
So long as it is a crime to reveal criminal actions, our government cannot be considered just, and these prosecutions aren’t worth a damn as anything more than an expression of corruption. Laws against leaks can only hold so long as there is another avenue for accountability - right now, there is not. The only crime is to reveal to the public that a crime has occurred - no amount of torture, murder, fraud, or corruption will be prosecuted, but revealing it’s existence… that is a crime the government takes seriously.
Indiscriminate is most of what we can hope for at this point - there’s so much wrong, and so many safeguards to insure that the actual important stuff that SHOULD be released actually gets released.
