Welcome to the New World Order

Dear Mr. President,

So this Bissonnette guy who’s making a buck off bin Laden is now in the cross-hairs himself. Figuratively, of course. The Pentagon and CIA full bore for days trying to figure out how to prosecute him for… well, it’s not really clear what he’s guilty of. Not exactly spilling the beans on a top-secret mission. You and your PR guys did that, what with all your celebrating, high-fiving, back-slapping leaking to the press. And even before Bissonnette, Wikipedia’s entry on bin Laden’s death had a detailed account right down to the caliber of ammunition and documents seized; not a first-hand account with all the you-are-there vicarious thrill, but still, a lot of information. Now I see that the Pentagon decided to use that handy “National Security” catch-all to charge him with violating two non-disclosure agreements signed in 2007 that obliged him to “never divulge” classified information. Their top lawyer sent him a letter informing him he was in “material breach and violation” of the agreement and the Pentagon is considering pursuing against him “all remedies legally available to us.” Surely they jest. I mean, persecuting Bradley Manning for divulging secrets is one thing, but this guy’s a certified Grade A American Hero with 5 Bronze stars and a Purple Heart and they’re going to charge him with giving aid and comfort to the enemy? Like Bradley Manning? This guy’s been on 13 secret missions, Mr. President, faithfully carried out your orders to assassinate suspected insurgents, helped tick off names on your Kill List and now you’re going to persecute him for trying to make a buck off it? Never mind that his lawyer contends there is no classified information in the book. Never mind that everybody already knows everything about the raid. It’s the principle of the thing, isn’t it? I think Bradley Manning, another authentic American Hero, and WikiLeaks, the avowed enemy of secrecy scared the shit out of you with all those diplomatic cables detailing the duplicity of governments and politicians and videos showing the U.S. Army committing war crimes. Transparency is anathema to tyrants and so, it doesn’t matter if someone’s a hero or not, information must be kept closely guarded. Hence, the Patriot Act to spy on us, National Security to spread a broad net of secrecy, legislation outlawing protests, militarized police forces to suppress dissent and the NDAA to incarcerate anyone for anything forever. Welcome to Obama’s New World Order.