I’m not normally one to post political stuff here, but this particular story quite amazed me. It seems that the New York Times published a report last week that the Bush Administration was tapping into the international banking transfer program to track international wire transfers without a warrant. But the Bush Administration didn’t want the NYT to publish the article, just like they didn’t want them to publish the one about domestic wiretapping.
Now, Rep. Peter King is calling on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prosecute the paper, calling them treasonists. In the AP article, it ends with the following:
Gonzales has said the First Amendment right of a free press should not be absolute when it comes to national security.
I found the article where he said that (had to use the Google cache since CNN says the page isn’t there anymore). On the contrary, I think that the right /has/ to exist. We’ve seen examples already in the past of the government trying to wrap things up as National Security issues so that they couldn’t be touched. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that news media should do things like reveal the location of soldiers. But I think they have every right to find out and report on things that the government is doing wrong. They are a vital part to the checks and balances system here in America.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on this, and writing to my reps if it moves forward any more. I encourage you to research the issue as well, and to write your representatives one way or the other.
Unfortunately the erosion of the seperation of powers has been going on for a long time, with the war on terror the biggest excuse. I always like to quote Benjamin Franklin on this, as his words still ring true today.
“Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”