I've been sitting on the fence for a long time. I voted for Obama, and was proud to do so. Then he hired Summers and Geithner, and refused to implement banking transparency, or even sponsor legislation meant to restore Glass-Steagall. Then he let Chrysler and GM go bankrupt while giving the banksters billions of dollars without demanding a single concession. "Obama has a hard job," I rationalized, "Bush left such a mess behind that Obama can't address my ideas about what's important, but surely he's doing something important and useful to help us recover from eight years of kleptocracy."
I've tried to keep an open mind. But then Glen Greenwald reported in Salon on a story about how Obama is supporting a bill that would make is possible to hide pictures of detainees forever. This abortion is called - in purest Orwellian doublespeak - the Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009 and I've got more to say about this act below the fold.
This is the end of any possible support I can feel for Obama or his government. His support for this act goes beyond any human decency.
I'm reproducing the relevent section of H.R. 2346 below in its entirety. It's too important for small quotes, (and I do pay for my legislators work:)
Sec. 1305. (a) Short Title- This section may be cited as the ‘Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009’.
Note the doublespeak here. The photographs have to be "protected." Protected from whom? Reporters? Jurors? Congress?
(b) Definitions- In this section:
(1) COVERED RECORD- The term ‘covered record’ means any record--
(A) that is a photograph that was taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States; and
(B) for which a certification by the Secretary of Defense under subsection (c) is in effect.
(2) PHOTOGRAPH- The term ‘photograph’ encompasses all photographic images, whether originals or copies, including still photographs, negatives, digital images, films, video tapes, and motion pictures.
Note the language: "originals or copies, including still photographs, negatives, digital images, films, video tapes, and motion pictures." They're not leaving any loopholes here.
(c) Certification-
(1) IN GENERAL- For any photograph described under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Secretary of Defense shall certify, if the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, determines that the disclosure of that photograph would endanger-
(A) citizens of the United States; or
(B) members of the Armed Forces or employees of the United States Government deployed outside the United States.
"Citizens of the United States would include "Citizen Dick Cheney" and "Citizen John Yoo," I assume.
(2) CERTIFICATION EXPIRATION- A certification submitted under paragraph (1) and a renewal of a certification submitted under paragraph (3) shall expire 3 years after the date on which the certification or renewal, as the case may be, is submitted to the President.
(3) CERTIFICATION RENEWAL- The Secretary of Defense may submit to the President-
(A) a renewal of a certification in accordance with paragraph (1) at any time; and
(B) more than 1 renewal of a certification.
In other words, they can submit renewals every single day, (or every minute, for that matter) and force lawyers and activists to wade through multiple renewals for each picture. The potential for abuse of this section is enormous. "Oh that all important report to Congress on another matter? We submitted it on the same day we submitted 11 million photographic certifications. Sorry, we lost all our copies."
(4) CERTIFICATION RENEWAL- A timely notice of the Secretary’s certification shall be provided to Congress.
(d) Nondisclosure of Detainee Records- A covered record shall not be subject to-
(1) disclosure undersection 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act); or
(2) disclosure under any proceeding under that section.
So much for the Freedom of Information Act.
1 (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude the voluntary disclosure of a covered record.
(f) Effective Date- This section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and apply to any photograph created before, on, or after that date that is a covered record.
It's effective immediately, and applies to all past, present and future records. (I assume it's effective when the Mr. Transparency signs it, then retroactive? Maybe someone with good legal training can explain this?)
As Salon's Glen Greenwald explains:
The White House is actively supporting a new bill jointly sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman -- called The Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009 -- that literally has no purpose other than to allow the government to suppress any "photograph taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States." As long as the Defense Secretary certifies -- with no review possible -- that disclosure would "endanger" American citizens or our troops, then the photographs can be suppressed even if FOIA requires disclosure. The certification lasts 3 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The Senate passed the bill as an amendment last week.
This is appalling. I wish I had something more intelligent to say about this, but I can't think right now. It just makes me sick.
If this has been previously diaried, (or diaried by someone who's more coherent than I am) I'll take the diary down. Just let me know.