Show Notes: President Mockingbird, Petulant Warrior

President Mockingbird

Under Obama efforts to intimidate and control media took dramatic turns.  Sharyl Atkinson was the most severe target of surveillance, and had intel gathering software installed on professional and home computers.  She is still in litigation today with the State Department.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/07/14/u-s-repeals-propaganda-ban-spreads-government-made-news-to-americans/

But if anyone needed a reminder of the dangers of domestic propaganda efforts, the past 12 months provided ample reasons. Last year, two USA Today journalists were ensnared in a propaganda campaign after reporting about millions of dollars in back taxes owed by the Pentagon’s top propaganda contractor in Afghanistan. Eventually, one of the co-owners of the firm confessed to creating phony websites and Twitter accounts to smear the journalists anonymously. Additionally, just this month, the Washington Post exposed a counter-propaganda program by the Pentagon that recommended posting comments on a U.S. website run by a Somali expat with readers opposing al-Shabab. “Today, the military is more focused on manipulating news and commentary on the Internet, especially social media, by posting material and images without necessarily claiming ownership,” reported the Post.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/barack-obamas-war-free-press

The dragnet raid against the Associated Press was not the extent of the administration’s assault on the press. Officials also conducted electronic surveillance of both New York Times reporter James Risen and Fox News correspondent James Rosen in an effort to identify their sources. The government even named Rosen as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in an espionage case brought against his source. Similarly, the administration asserted that it had the right to prosecute Risen, although it chose not to take that step. Those were all ominous warning signals of a government campaign to erase even the limited protections that the Pentagon Papers ruling had provided.

Smith-Mundt Act 

Glen Greenwald reported on the relaxation of the rules under Obama to allow government agencies to influence public opinion.  

https://perma.cc/PHH2-R9CH

Rep. Smith repeatedly insisted that his bill would not permit the domestic dissemination of any State Department program “intended to” influence public opinion inisde the U.S., but only ones intended for a foreign audience; aside from the impossibility of enforcing that distinction, I pointed out that the Press Release distributed by him and his GOP co-sponsor clearly argues that one reason this repeal was needed was to enable the State Department to influence public opinion among certain population segments within the U.S. The Press Release I referenced is here, and it states:

Contemporary interpretations of the law interfere with a range of communications activities, including public diplomacy, military communication efforts, and emergency and disaster response activities.  It has also led to inaccurate reporting by American media about issues affecting global security.

Interestingly enough the US wanted to target Somalians living in the US.

For example, in 2009 the law prohibited a Minneapolis-based radio station with a large Somali-American audience from replaying a Voice of America-produced piece rebutting terrorist propaganda.  Even after the community was targeted for recruitment by al-Shabab and other extremists, government lawyers refused the replay request, noting that Smith-Mundt tied their hands.