Re: Revealed: NSA collecting phone records of millions of Americans daily
cnn today:
Second term mostly drama for Obama - CNN.com
Less than five months in, Obama and his administration appear knocked off balance by a barrage of controversies and criticisms exacerbating the bitter political battles that marked his first four years in office.
He's under fire from the right and left, accused by some of conspiratorial machinations to grab even more power than the leader of the free world legally holds.
Headlines are dominated by scandals such as the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups and classified leaks that disclosed details of the vast data mining and surveillance apparatus created after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, Republicans and some Democrats say his attorney general should resign over various issues including secret subpoenas of journalist phone records.
Even the first lady got heckled -- at a Democratic fundraiser, no less. While the issue was gay rights, the incident showed how Obama supporters also were frustrated by what they consider to be a lack of sufficient progress on progressive issues they expect the president to champion.
To columnist and CNN contributor John Avlon, the latest Washington scandals "have put the president off balance," with the administration on defense instead of driving the agenda.
"The choice will be in how the administration tries to deal with it," Avlon said. "If it's in denial and acts like these events are occurring outside its purview or control, that will be a big problem."
"This is a president now who's dealing with issues he never thought he was going to have to deal with," [CNN senior analyst Gloria] Borger said Monday, referring to drone strikes, government surveillance and classified leaks.
Avlon and Borger agreed that Obama must be proactive in dealing with the newly revealed details about how the government has access to phone records and Internet activity as tools in fighting terrorism.
instead, according to cnn, the president is telling us to "trust him"
"no one is listening to your phone calls"
however, when bush did less, the president platformed against this "false choice"
"you can't have 100% security and 100% privacy," he says today
nsa activities are merely "minor encroachments"
cnn chief national correspondent john king: "if the president doesn't try to get ahead of it, guess what, he'll get dragged along with it"
all of the above complicate immigration reform, continues cnn
and syria
(as well as anything else the president contemplates, like guns, gay marriage, tax reform...)
when's the last time he griped about sequester, whatever happened to green investment?
and then there's the trouble at foggy bottom (the state dept), which has been rocked by cbs' scoop saying inspector general aurelia fedenisn found 8 crimes committed by state employees (including the belgian ambassador's soliciting minors for sex) which were COVERED UP by the heavy hitters on the top floor of the building
as well as the doj, where eric holder told congress on may 15 that he was not aware of even "potential" prosecution of press participants
huffpo, wapo and the natl journal have all called for the ignorant (according to holder) ag to resign
it all comes down to trust
as in, few anymore have any in this white house
the nyt editorialized after the nsa broke, "obama has lost all credibility"
this aint watergate, the ex sycophants at cnn conclude
but remember john avlon's warning at the top: "if the administration is in denial and acts like these events are occurring outside its purview or control, that will be a big problem"
obama's matured, but has he come clean?
stay tuned
