Is Our Democracy In Peril?

[Kathianne]

Taranto as usual gets to the point, for the most part letting others do the talking:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324787004578494961837484232.html




May 20, 2013

<!-- ID: SB10001424127887324787004578494961837484232 --> <!-- TYPE: Best of the Web Today --> <!-- DISPLAY-NAME: Best of the Web Today --> <!-- PUBLICATION: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition --> <!-- DATE: 2013-05-20 00:01 --> <!-- COPYRIGHT: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. --> <!-- ORIGINAL-ID: --> <!-- article start --> <!-- CODE=DJII-COMPANY SYMBOL=irevs CODE=DJII-COMPANY SYMBOL=onlnfr CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=FB CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=N/CDJ CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=N/ELX CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=N/INT CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=N/PLT CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=R/NME CODE=DJII-DJN SYMBOL=R/US CODE=DJII-REGION SYMBOL=namz CODE=DJII-REGION SYMBOL=usa CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gcat CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gpir CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gpol CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gvbod CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gvexe CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gvjus CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gvote CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=gvote1 CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=ncat CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=nedc CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=nfact CODE=DJII-SUBJECT SYMBOL=nfcpex CODE=RELAY SYMBOL=SYND CODE=STATISTIC SYMBOL=FREE CODE=SUBJECT SYMBOL=OMMM CODE=SUBJECT SYMBOL=ONEW CODE=SUBJECT SYMBOL=OPIN AUTHOR James Taranto AUTHOR|James Taranto AUTHOR James Taranto ID James Taranto NAME James Taranto TOPICID 5474 RANK 1 --> A Crisis of AuthorityThe deeper meaning of the Obama scandals.
Democracy is in peril: That is an emerging theme of the liberal left's response to the Obama scandals. The argument misses the point, no doubt deliberately. What we are witnessing now is not a crisis of democracy but a crisis of authority. The administrative state, in thrall to a decadent cultural elite, has lost the consent of the governed.


"After a week of scandal obsession during which the nation's capital and the media virtually ignored the problems most voters care about--jobs, incomes, growth, opportunity, education--it's worth asking if there is something especially flawed about our democracy," declares the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-political-dysfunctions-spells-trouble-for-democracies/2013/05/19/757fedba-bf28-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html).

...


But if the purpose of that rewriting was, as it appears to have been, to deceive voters and bolster the president's re-election prospects, then it was a subversion of democracy.


And the IRS scandal was a subversion of democracy on a massive scale. The most fearsome and coercive arm of the administrative state embarked on a systematic effort to suppress citizen dissent against the party in power. Thomas Friedman is famous for musing that he wishes America could be China for a day (http://bit.ly/n0CeDX). It turns out we've been China for a while.


In a CNN.com column Donna Brazile (http://us.cnn.com/2013/05/18/opinion/brazile-democracy-in-danger/) strikes the same theme with a sinister twist:

...


In one breath Brazile urges everyone to be civil and respectful. In the next she labels her opponents with one of the most racially incendiary metaphors in the American lexicon. And note that she is casting government officials who abused their power as lynching victims.



Brazile is on to something, however, in her skepticism about "those who report." The current crisis of authority very much includes the news media, which in significant measure have abdicated their guiding principles of impartiality, objectivity and sometimes even accuracy.


Liberal media bias is an old complaint, but the Obama presidency has given it a new and dangerous form. Never has the prevailing bias of the media been so closely aligned with the ideological aims and political interests of the party in power. The American media remain free and independent, or you would not be reading this column. But to a large extent they have functioned for the past few years as if they were under state control.

...

[tailfins]

Democracy SHOULD be in peril!

If we have a democracy, we no longer have a republic.


Outside Independence Hall when
the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended,
Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,
"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,
"A republic, if you can keep it."

Here is a good explanation:
http://www.yaliberty.org/posts/are-we-safe-from-democracy

[taft2012]

The administrative state, in thrall to a decadent cultural elite, has lost the consent of the governed.

But is that really the case? After a week of back-to-back scandals, Obama's approval rating didn't move as expected.

The electorate has consented to authoritarianism in exchange for government guaranteed care. I wouldn't say it was a conscious choice on the part of the electorate, but more of calculation on the part of the authoritarian-in-chief. "Give 'em stuff and they'll keep quiet."

It's working.

[taft2012]

In a CNN.com column Donna Brazile (http://us.cnn.com/2013/05/18/opinion/brazile-democracy-in-danger/) strikes the same theme with a sinister twist:

Holy crap on a cracker, where does she get the temerity to write transparent BS like that?

Why do they only call for the end of partisan bickering when they're balls are to the wall?

[Kathianne]

While cynics will be cynics, seems some are getting it:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/300895-poll-majority-believe-irs-targeting-of-tea-party-was-intentional


Poll: Majority believes IRS targeting of Tea Party was intentional
By Meghashyam Mali - 05/21/13 07:41 AM ET


A new poll finds that a majority of Americans believes the Internal Revenue Service targeting scandal was an intentional effort to harass conservative political groups.

In a Washington Post/ABC News (http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/05/21/National-Politics/Polling/release_237.xml) poll released Tuesday, 56 percent said the IRS use of higher scrutiny on Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status was a deliberate move, with 31 percent calling it an “administrative mistake.”

A strong majority, 74 percent, said the IRS moves were inappropriate to 20 percent who said they were appropriate. Fifty-one percent also said they believe those actions were illegal to 44 who said they were inappropriate but not against the law.

A plurality also believe the administration is not being forthcoming about the targeting scandal. Forty-five percent said the administration is trying to cover up facts, with 42 percent saying the White House has honestly disclosed what they know.


...

[Kathianne]

and the beat goes on. Sharyl Attkission's computer hacked:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/sharyl-attkissons-computers-compromised-164456.html


Sharyl Attkisson's computers compromised

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<!--/.toolbar--> By DYLAN BYERS (http://www.politico.com/reporters/DylanByers.html) | <abbr class="published" title="2013-05-21T11:18">5/21/13 11:18 AM EDT</abbr>
Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter, says that her personal and work computers have been compromised and are under investigation.


"I can confirm that an intrusion of my computers has been under some investigation on my end for some months but I'm not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today as I've been patient and methodical about this matter," Attkisson told POLITICO on Tuesday. "I need to check with my attorney and CBS to get their recommendations on info we make public."


In an earlier interview with WPHT Philadelphia, Attkisson said that though she did not know the full details of the intrustion, "there could be some relationship between these things and what's happened to James [Rosen]," the Fox News reporter who became the subject of a Justice Dept. investigation after reporting on CIA intelligence about North Korea in 2009.


On Sunday, The Washington Post reported (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-rare-peek-into-a-justice-department-leak-probe/2013/05/19/0bc473de-be5e-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html) that the Justice Dept. had searched Rosen's personal e-mails and tracked his visits to the State Dept. The court affadavit described Rosen as “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator" of his government source, presumably because he had solicited classified information from that source -- an argument that has been heavily (https://twitter.com/JeffreyGoldberg/status/336851467916947456) criticized (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/leaks_turn_to_deluge_for_reeling_98wAReXDfwgYcFiCm XHB3L) by other journalists.


Attkisson told WPHT that irregular activity on her computer was first identified in Feb. 2011, when she was reporting on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and on the Obama administration's green energy spending, which she said "the administration was very sensitive about." Attkisson has also been a persistent investigator (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/the-posts-sharyl-attkisson-piece-163496.html) of the events surrounding last year's attack in Benghazi, and its aftermath.

[red states rule]

The Obama regime may be committing political suicide. Why the hell they are going after their most loyal base defies all logic.

[Kathianne]

Why pursue the media? Hubris.

Look, AP has spent the last week supporting the administration, accusing the opposition of witch hunts, with the exception of the AP targeting. Now the administration feels justified and protected to pile on, no excuses. FOX was a natural choice, Attkisson? Time will tell, she's been trying to get out of her contract, (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/04/sharyl-attkisson-in-talks-to-leave-cbs-161543.html) CBS has been holding her stories. (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/the-posts-sharyl-attkisson-piece-163496.html)


...Farhi's piece places Attkisson in a David-vs.-Goliath narrative, wherein the Obama administration is Goliath: "Attkisson, who holds a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, takes a fighting stance when she feels she’s being stonewalled. Which is exactly what she thinks the White House has done to her on Benghazi," Farhi writes.
But from where Attkisson is sitting, there are actually two Goliaths, one of which is almost entirely absent from the Post profile.


The second Goliath is CBS News, which has grown increasingly frustrated with Attkisson's Benghazi campaign. CBS News executives see Attkisson wading dangerously close to advocacy on the issue, network sources have told POLITICO. Attkisson can't get some of her stories on the air, and is thus left feeling marginalized and underutilized. That, in part, is why Attkisson is in talks to leave CBS ahead of contract (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/04/sharyl-attkisson-in-talks-to-leave-cbs-161543.html), as POLITICO reported in April.

...

[Kathianne]

WSJ editorial board wades in on Rosen:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324102604578495253824175498.html?m od=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


Ok, we've learned our lesson. Last week we tried to give the Obama Administration the benefit of the doubt over its far-reaching secret subpoenas to the Associated Press, and now we learn that was the least of its offenses against a free press. No attempt to be generous to this crowd goes unpunished.


The latest news, disclosed by the Washington Post on Monday, is that the Justice Department targeted a Fox News reporter as a potential "co-conspirator" in a leak probe. The feds have charged intelligence analyst Stephen Jin-Woo Kim with disclosing classified information to Fox reporter James Rosen. That's not a surprise considering that this Administration has prosecuted more national-security cases than any in recent history.
The shock is that as part of its probe the Administration sought and obtained a warrant to search Mr. Rosen's personal email account. And it justified such a sweeping secret search by telling the judge that Mr. Rosen was part of the conspiracy merely because he acted like a journalist.


In a May 2010 affidavit in support of obtaining the Gmail search warrant, FBI agent Reginald Reyes declared that "there is probable cause to believe that the Reporter has committed or is committing a violation" of the Espionage Act of 1917 "as an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator." The Reporter here is Mr. Rosen.


And what evidence is there to believe that Mr. Rosen is part of a spy ring? Well, declares Mr. Reyes, the reporter published a story in June 2009 saying that the U.S. knew that North Korea planned to respond to looming U.N. sanctions with another nuclear test. That U.S. knowledge was classified. But the feds almost never prosecute a journalist for disclosing classified information, not least because reporters can't be sure what's classified and what isn't.

...


The best face on these accusations is that Mr. Reyes was playing up the conspiracy angle to get the judge to approve a more sweeping search, which he did. The feds were then able to read widely in Mr. Rosen's personal email account, and thus potentially use it against him.


As with the AP subpoenas, this search is overbroad and has a potentially chilling effect on reporters. The chilling is even worse in this case because Mr. Rosen's personal communications were subject to search for what appears to be an extended period of time. At least in the AP case, the subpoena was for past phone logs during a defined period. The message is that anyone who publishes a story the Administration dislikes can be targeted for email searches that could expose personal secrets.


Mr. Reyes is far exceeding his brief here, but the larger fault lies with higher-ups. U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen, who is conducting the AP and Kim leak investigations, clearly has little regard for normal Justice standards and protocol for dealing with the media. Such a sweeping probe should also have been approved by senior Justice officials, at least by the Deputy Attorney General.


With the Fox News search following the AP subpoenas, we now have evidence of a pattern of anti-media behavior. The suspicion has to be that maybe these "leak" investigations are less about deterring leakers and more about intimidating the press. We trust our liberal friends in the press corps won't mute their dismay merely because this time the target is a network they love to hate.

[BillyBob]

The Obama regime may be committing political suicide. Why the hell they are going after their most loyal base defies all logic.

Because he doesn't need to get re-elected.

[red states rule]

This is getting worse.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLsgLU29MDc&feature=player_embedded

[red states rule]

Taranto as usual gets to the point, for the most part letting others do the talking:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324787004578494961837484232.html

http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/gv052113dAPR20130521024515.jpg

[tailfins]

The Obama regime may be committing political suicide. Why the hell they are going after their most loyal base defies all logic.

Chavezitis.

[taft2012]

This is getting worse.


Nonsense.

According to Rev and the pothead conservatives, once a judge signs a warrant everything is completely legitimate and Constitutional.

Apparently those black robes contain some kind of magic, because once you slide one of them onto a shady lawyer, he's instantly transformed into some kind of reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson.

:laugh:

[red states rule]

http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/holb_c10953920130523120100.jpg