Assange, Manning, Snowden, and the privacy state

I was today reading about the details of Manning's leak to Wikileaks and caught on to the section 1.4f which includes information on the passwords of the United States Nuclear Arsenal. I haven't read the details of the leak before, but have heard parts of it that are the most disturbing, like the times when warcrimes were created in Iraq and Afghanistan and similar instances, which I feel are perfectly legal and safe to disclose. But when it comes to releasing passwords to nuclear weapons I draw the line. I need to continue to analyze where I get my information from news sources and be quicker to read the details of what happens in these types of instances when information is released because I was wrong to defend Manning to my friends. There is no doubt he is a traitor and there is no doubt he put everybody in danger by releasing those passwords.

When it comes to Assange and Wikileaks' role in releasing the cables they were instrumental at being so destructive and should have prevented them being leaked. The other cables that Manning released were not as destructive but that Wikileaks was willing to publish the one on the nuclear passwords makes Assange equally guilty because he participated.

When it comes to Snowden, he was doing a very different leak. It is limited to the unwarranted surveillance of Americans and foreigners by the United States National Security Agency. This is not going to give anyone access to nuclear weapons passwords, or anything else that could literally destroy people, it is a report on a major violation against the 4th Amendment that is despicable. No one is going to get access to weapons, and the only way someone could get killed is if the American government executes someone. (probably Snowden, which would be amazingly reminiscient of Third Reich whistleblowers)

We need to revise the PATRIOT ACT and Espionage Act to make certain the people have their privacy and security, and that whistleblowers can do their job. If we don't protect our freedom America stops being special.

Information wants to be free.

A few issues Obama has failed on.

Now, I agree with President Obama on a number of issues, especially health care, closing GitMo, repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, free trade with conditions, the stimulus package, and a few other major deals.

However, Obama has made some major mistakes during his Presidency, and nothing is as large as his support of drone bombings. I am currently listening to Rand Paul's filibuster (the first one I have listened to, and he has some good points) and I must agree with him on boycotting John Brennan. The Democrats have failed to stand up for what should be a very easy issue for social liberals. President Obama need to reanalyze his policy, and for people who do not know about the situation, this documentary has a lot of great information as a start.

There are a number of excellent reason why President Obama and the Democrats need to change their policy on drone strikes and people need to pressure their congressmen to change their policy.

1. There need to be clear laws on how the government may not kill people like this without a warrant to fulfill the 4th amendment, because otherwise there is no way to empirically determine whether a person is guilty besides trying the person in court.
2. The 4th amendment is being violated with drone strikes.
3. There should not be a difference in drone strikes within the United States and abroad. When the government starts killing foreigners without the proper due process of law, it is violating the principle of the Constitution. What would we do if all of a sudden Russia started doing drone strikes in other countries, perhaps Alaska, but they do the same excuse our government has made that they are not within their country hence have no protections. This is an inexcusable and pathetic excuse, and it is tragic that there is no party that can form in our country due to our election system that can take seats from Democrats that can reverse this policy.

Indefinite detention is another issue where the President has not made great progress in, especially when it comes to immigration. Frontline made an excellent documentary on this topic. With little coverage of this issue, and no front page coverage in any major news paper, there is no surprise it has not become a major political issue, and with no third party to make it an issue, it is no wonder that the Democrats have no found it reasonable to make it into a major issue, with the constant showdown on debt. No wonder so many Americans feel so disillusioned about our political issue. The Democrats will attack Republicans when they break the law in this way, and a few Republicans will attack the Democrats when the Democrats break the law yet again. This is why we need a third party that will push it through even when they are not in power and that people will be behind the movement and push for very reasonable regulations and this clash between Democrats and the new party will keep each other in check, instead of only clash between the Democrats and Republicans, one of whom always tries to compromise, and one of whom always tries to fulfill as much of their agenda as possible. That is not a good combination, and having a left-wing third party to clash with the Democrats when they fail to follow through with the campaign promises which has happened with Obamacare, repealing Gramm-Leach-Bliley, closing Gitmo, immigration reform, and other important issues.

Another issue that no one has been willing to take up is homelessness, especially homeless veterans. We have failed them 100%. There needs to be a major effort towards eliminating homelessness here in the United States, and when local governments make laws that drive homeless people from the streets while the churches that do help homelessness are stretching their resources to their maximum, never have enough. As a side note, this is why I find Libertarianism to be an untenable downright absurd position, that you can't truly support the quality of life of people without reasonable programs so that people can maintain high qualities life. This is why we need reasonable programs so people can find work, have health care, and access to housing, which the Democrats don't have the political will to pass through, and no incentive to work harder towards their campaign promises. I hope this post will be obsolete soon, but right now it is completely accurate.