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THE WEIRS TIMES & THE COCHECO TIMES, Thursday, June 21, 2012
WHO WILL PROTECT THE FREEDOM TO BLOG?
Free speech
by Michelle Malkin Syndicated Columnist
is under fire. Online thugs are target- ing bloggers (mostly con- servative, but not all) who have dared to expose a con- victed bomber and perjuring vexatious liti-
TRANSPARENT INCOMPETENCE WA SHI N G TON
by Oliver North Syndicated Columnist
- Senior mem- bers of Con- gress — both Republ i cans and Democrats — are reacting with shock and awe at the tsu- nami of national security leaks emanating from the Obama ad-
ministration. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Com- mittee, told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News Channel that the unauthorized disclosures of clas- sified information are “the most egregious breach of national secu- rity” he ever has seen. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters this week, “The accelerating pace of such disclosures, the sensitivity of the matters in question and the harm caused to our national security interests is alarming and unacceptable.” McCain and Feinstein — and
others in both parties express- ing dismay at the disclosures —
shouldn’t be surprised. The offi- cials in the Obama administration who tell reporters classified details about SEAL team raids, Stuxnet, “kill lists” for targeted attacks on high-value targets and ongoing co- vert operations in foreign countries are doing exactly what the com- mander in chief wants. He told us so on the day of his inauguration. Reading from a teleprompter in
the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the new president in- structed his senior White House staff and Cabinet: “The way to make government accountable is to make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they’re being made and whether their interests are being well-served. ... For a long time now, there’s been too much secrecy in this city. ... Starting to- day, every agency and department should know that this administra- tion stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.” The leakers simply are following
his orders. That’s what makes the quotes attributed to “unnamed See NORTH on 32
gant who is now enjoying a comfy life as a liberally subsidized social justice operative. Where do your elected representatives stand on this threat to our founding prin- ciples? On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Sax-
by Chambliss, R-GA, bravely stepped forward to press this vital issue. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Chambliss decried the “harassing and fright- ening actions” of Internet men- aces who recently have gone after several conservative new media citizen journalists and activists. GOP Rep. Kenny Marchant of
Texas added his voice, telling Holder in a statement that he is “very afraid of the potential chill- ing effects that these reported actions may have in silencing individuals who would otherwise be inclined to exercise their Con- stitutional right to free speech.” And the American Center for Law and Justice, a leading conserva- tive free speech public interest law firm, announced it was pro- viding legal representation to the National Bloggers Club — a new media association that has pro- vided support and raised funds for targets of this coordinated harassment. (Full disclosure: I volunteer on the National Blog- gers Club board of directors.) The ACLJ described the impor- tance of the case very simply:
“Free speech is under attack.” Chambliss and Marchant called specific attention to one terrify- ing tactic against these bloggers: SWAT-ting. These hoaxes occur “when a perpetrator contacts lo- cal police to report a violent inci- dent at a target’s home.” Callers disguise their true identities and locations in order to provoke a potentially deadly SWAT/police response descending upon the targets’ homes. As online conservatives — and
now ABC News — have reported, recent SWAT-ting victims include New Jersey-based Mike Stack, a blogger and Twitter user tar- geted last summer after helping to expose disgraced former N.Y. Democratic Rep. Anthony Wein- er’s shady social media activities; California blogger Patrick Frey, a deputy district attorney at Los Angeles County District Attor- ney’s Office who recently posted a bone-chilling account and audio of his summer 2011 SWAT-ting on his blog,
Patterico.com; and CNN contributor and RedState. com managing editor Erick Er- ickson, whose Georgia home was targeted by a faker claiming an “accidental shooting” there late last month. A common thread among these
and other online targets: They all have published web links, com- mentary or investigative pieces related to Brett Kimberlin, the infamous “Speedway Bomber.” In 1978, Kimberlin was sen- tenced to more than 50 years in federal prison for drug dealing, impersonating a federal officer and a weeklong bombing spree in Speedway, Ind. The violent crimes left one vic-
tim so severely injured that he committed suicide. A civil court awarded the widow of the victim, See MALKIN on 23
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