Obama: "Hypocrite of the Century"

Dear Mr. President,

Last week, Clare Daly, an Irish Member of Parliament, called you “the hypocrite of the century” and “a war criminal.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko5W_1Y47O8). She noted that you told Irish school kids during your visit that you would be “the wind at their back” if they worked for peace but at the same time you wage wars and arm militants in Syria. She’s only an obscure MP in Ireland so her comments didn’t appear in the U.S. media. But with the Snowden affair, Julian Assange is back in the news and his comments did: “In a written statement on Saturday, Mr. Assange suggested that President Obama was the real ‘traitor’ for betraying the hopes of a generation of idealists represented by both Private Manning and Mr. Snowden….Mr. Assange added a warning to the government: ‘By trying to crush these young whistle-blowers with espionage charges, the U.S. government is taking on a generation, and that is a battle it is going to lose.’” (NY Times, “WikiLeaks Steps In As a Comrade in Arms”, June 24, p. A8) I would add that you betrayed not only the generation of Snowden and Manning, but all generations everywhere. In 2008 your called whistleblowers essential for democracy and you’ve waged an unprecedented war on them and the press. You vowed the most transparent administration in history and instead have the most opaque. You call for new Shield Laws “to protect journalists” but the legislation you propose makes “national security” an exception and innovative media sites—like WikiLeaks—that believe in transparency are specifically excluded in the definition of news organizations. (NY Times, “Even Before Case of NSA Leaker, Assange Remained on U.S. Radar”, June 25, p. A9) You’ve bureaucratized war and made it standard foreign policy, called cold-blooded murder “justice” and have no qualms about ordering extrajudicial assassinations, even of U.S. citizens, in spite of your vow to return to the rule of law. The baying of the wolves in Congress and your administration for Snowden’s head, his “damage to America’s security” reveals the final hypocrisy; that the true enemy of the State is not the terrorists—they already knew they were being spied on—but the citizenry of the U.S. and our allies. Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning betrayed only the corruption of an out-of-control enterprise; rather than traitors they are true heroes of democracy who should be honored. And you, Mr. President, can add another award to your resume: Hypocrite of the Century.