Bush Condemns Report on Bank Records
Bush Condemns Report on Bank Records - New York Times > President Bush today condemned as "disgraceful" the disclosure last week of a secret program that seeks to investigate and block terrorists by tracing financial records through a banking consortium in Brussels.
The existence of the program was reported beginning on Thursday evening by The New York Times and other newspapers.
"We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America," Mr. Bush told reporters today. "For people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America." He added that it "makes it harder to win the war on terrorism."
Mr. Bush did not single out a particular newspaper. But on Sunday, Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, said he was outraged that such a sensitive program had been exposed, and called for a criminal investigation of The Times.
Mr. King said on "Fox News Sunday" that the disclosure was "absolutely disgraceful."
In a telephone interview Sunday night, Mr. King said he singled out The Times because he considered the paper "more of a recidivist," since it published an article last year reporting the existence of a secret wiretapping program by the National Security Agency.
Mr. King added, however, that he thought the actions of other news organizations, including The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, should also be examined.
My Spin
this is a tough case because both sides in their own crazy way have a point - freedom of the press should never be limited, and there is a clear and present danger posed to the citizens of the US if the government can not conduct any secret activites it makes the search for those wishing to hurt us just that much harder. While I agree with the New York Times in that if the government is engaged in illegal or questionable activites it's their duty to report on it as responsible journalists. But is the New Yourk Times staffed with responsible journalists or just glory hounds looking to attack a president they hate, hard to tell sometimes.
What it boils down to is if the government doesn't want these stories ending up on the newspapers do a better do of stopping leaks. Also the New York Times needs to show restraint in sensitive matters and only report real scandals as opposed to hunting for fame (I agree this is a real story that needed to be told so this is a bad example). The MSM is full of head hunters looking for book deals and will do anything to break a story that will generate a little fame, enough for them to become famous and ink a million dollar book deal. As for Bush what else can you say it's an idiot and is really pushing to boundaries between sensible and 1984.
The existence of the program was reported beginning on Thursday evening by The New York Times and other newspapers.
"We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America," Mr. Bush told reporters today. "For people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America." He added that it "makes it harder to win the war on terrorism."
Mr. Bush did not single out a particular newspaper. But on Sunday, Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, said he was outraged that such a sensitive program had been exposed, and called for a criminal investigation of The Times.
Mr. King said on "Fox News Sunday" that the disclosure was "absolutely disgraceful."
In a telephone interview Sunday night, Mr. King said he singled out The Times because he considered the paper "more of a recidivist," since it published an article last year reporting the existence of a secret wiretapping program by the National Security Agency.
Mr. King added, however, that he thought the actions of other news organizations, including The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, should also be examined.
My Spin
this is a tough case because both sides in their own crazy way have a point - freedom of the press should never be limited, and there is a clear and present danger posed to the citizens of the US if the government can not conduct any secret activites it makes the search for those wishing to hurt us just that much harder. While I agree with the New York Times in that if the government is engaged in illegal or questionable activites it's their duty to report on it as responsible journalists. But is the New Yourk Times staffed with responsible journalists or just glory hounds looking to attack a president they hate, hard to tell sometimes.
What it boils down to is if the government doesn't want these stories ending up on the newspapers do a better do of stopping leaks. Also the New York Times needs to show restraint in sensitive matters and only report real scandals as opposed to hunting for fame (I agree this is a real story that needed to be told so this is a bad example). The MSM is full of head hunters looking for book deals and will do anything to break a story that will generate a little fame, enough for them to become famous and ink a million dollar book deal. As for Bush what else can you say it's an idiot and is really pushing to boundaries between sensible and 1984.
