The United States of Secrets
by digby
I sincerely hope that everyone who is skeptical about the value and necessity of NSA whistleblowing will watch the PBS Frontline program called The United States of Secrets. You won't have to be offended by Glenn Greenwald's passion (although he does appear toward the end briefly) or reflexively defend the Obama administration because it's mostly the programs that Dick Cheney and his deranged lieutenant David Addington energetically pushed and defended as Michael Hayden and the NSA willingly carried it out. This is the whole story told in linear fashion, with recollections from players like Alberto Gonzales (who admits that all he tried to do was "protect the president" when he signed the legal authorization when Jack Goldsmith refused.) You'll see, probably for the first time, the first person accounts of righteous patriots who tried to blow the whistle from the very beginning.
The details are all fascinating and the story is well told. But I think it's vitally important for liberals who are ambivalent about whether this program required whistleblower with proof to watch it to understand how it was protected and advanced by Vice President Cheney and his counsel Addington through lies and obfuscation and finally just plain thuggish political power. (And yes, how despite the fact that President Obama ran for president explicitly against such abuse of power, he did nothing to challenge it. That's on him.)
You can read interviews with various players including those who were intimidated and tossed out of government over the years for challenging the government over these programs. You'll be particularly impressed, I'm sure, with the story of Bill Keller and the New York Times which decided not to run with the story after being strong armed by the White House (and which also stood by like a bunch of potted plants when both their reporters and their sources were harassed by the government.)If you ever wondered why Edward Snowden didn't go through channels or take his story to the elite press, this program shows just how much better he understood the dynamics after watching the experience of the parade of whistleblowers before him.
There will be a live chat with Spencer Ackerman, producer and writer Mike Wiser and NSA whistleblower Kirk Wiebe to day at 2EST/11PST here.
It's a great program, to be continued next week with the story of the commercial interests involved in all this.
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