Foreign policy dissidents have the greatest interest in repealing the Logan Act, not wielding it as a weapon to shield ex-CIA Directors while heralding it as a clearly defined criminal statute.
Good piece, and I think it would have been at least as good if Omar's misguided comments had been relegated to incidental mention. The truth is, almost certainly, that she doesn't have a clue about the reality of the Logan Act and her pronouncements about it just aren't important. Her mainstream-Dem-like instinct to defend liberally-rehabilitated evildoers such as Brennan are more interesting.
I agree with BDick59 and Doug Salzmann and would add that it is patently evident Omar and all of the New Left with a capital L are bent on the destruction of the Bill of Rights. Omar is not to be imbued as virtuous in any way just because she might, on occasion, take a position on foreign policy or other policy with which GG or I agree. To her and her squad, everything Trump does or says it bad because he says or does it. To them, being "not Trump" is in and of itself a virtue. They are the walking definition of what Nietzsche described as the Slave Morality, the defining of oneself by what one is not. Thus, Omar defends an indefensible person: John Brennan. Trump's biggest mistake, and it proved fatal, was not purging the Security State which was and remains the greatest threat to our real nationaal security with a small S.
The unfortunate truth is that Omar and the rest of the "Progressives", from AOC to "trust the intelligence agencies" Ro Khanna, are frauds whose purpose is to sheepdog low-information voters obsessed with the culture war into supporting the DNC. Whether its voting to support Adam Schiff's bill to criminalize reporting the crimes of the CIA, lining up to vote for crypt-keeper Nancy Pelosi, demanding new and overbearing corporate and government restrictions on free speech or refusing to utter the name of Julian Assange, "Progressives" are just another bunch of authoritarians. The only thing defining them from Steny Hoyer is their constant harping on identity politics, their cynical deployment of "social justice" rhetoric and an elixir of youth.
I can guarantee that my regular sources of news would never have brought up this or criticized Rep. Omar in this way, which is why I’m so glad I’m subscribed here. I just want the truth and for both sides to be justifiably called out, and to be able to form an opinion based on that.
My primary takeaway from this piece is that Twitter is absolutely the most dangerous, and poorly utilized "tool" ever used to govern regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof). If Jack Dorsey truly wants to limit the harms that come from "misinformation" he would do the world a favor by shutting down.
Glenn you are probably giving Omar too much credit to think she was genuinely trying to make a legal argument.
Like most Americans today, both inside and outside of government, she will posture as a defender of the constitution or “our democracy” when it suits a particular situation that furthers their wrestling for power. The next moment they will advocate for sacrificing the crucial enlightenment principles that underlie civilized society, if it furthers their wrestling for power or momentarily helps their “team” gain a point or two in the battle for power in Washington.
In this case she feigns a legal argument which on its face sounds sounds sober and deliberate, yet upon further investigation (thank you Glenn), is nothing more than trying to win a point or two against an Israel government that she abhors.
It’s the common thread today: casual willingness to discard absolutely crucial enlightenment principles (such as due process or the right to dissent) to pick up a point or two against one’s opposition.
You do not want to get into a nuanced intellectual argument with Ilhan Omar.
You’ll win (easily) but you’ll be so much worse for having even tried to engage in a productive conversation intended to seek understanding in order for you and us to be understood on the issue of the Logan Act.
Upon further analysis it turns out that--in a clear violation of the Logan Act, by the way--the unfortunate Iranian physicist was killed by a falling pallet of U.S. currency whose parachute failed to open when it was dropped out of a C-130 by order of the Office of the President-Elect's National Security Transition Team.
When asked for a comment, John Brennan reportedly said, "Oops!"
Alas, America now has two fascist parties, distinguished from each other primarily by one having a vocal socialist wing, and the other having a vocal classical liberal (or as that's called in America, "conservative") wing.
I ended up here after seeing Mr. Greenwald's interviews with Reason and Michael Malice. This type of piece is exactly what the mainstream, self identified liberals need to see. They are missing the the important stories, even when one of their own is shouting from the rooftop trying to showing. As a right libertarian, I truly appreciate the work being done here.
1. The Logan Act. It reminds me of a part of Canadian Military rules...that one could be charged with(and people were)...”conduct unbecoming a serviceman”.
2. There’s a meme floating around: “Mommy, a man touched me in a bad way.” to which mommy replies, “Was he a Democrat or a Republican?”
"The right to dissent from, and to work against, the official foreign policy of the U.S. Government is vital: foundational to Constitutional liberties."
"Once you start arrogating unto yourself the right to use authoritarian and lawless methods, and to align behind repressive institutions like CIA and FBI, you become exactly what you started off believing you were fighting.”
Glenn: Unless you mistakenly left out the words “openly” and “legally" in your first quote, it is wholly incompatible with the second one. What Donald Trump exposed was a permanent bureaucracy of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who, as James Comey put it, answer to a “higher calling” that reeks of your second quote--even as they and their media allies (many of whom are retired spooks to begin with) present themselves as paragons of integrity described by your first quote.
Decent Americans know the difference. They also know that, barring a miracle, justice will be denied. In short, the Constitution is being replaced by an “any means necessary” agenda that definitely includes an attempted coup, and quite possibly the wholesale (and maybe permanent) delegitimization of national elections.
The Logan Act was passed by the same Congress that passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Sedition Act criminalized inciting rebellion against lawful authority, which is the very definition of dissent. So I think the intent of Congress was fairly clear; they wished to ensure that the United States was never confused with a democracy. Unfortunately, they have had only mixed success.
The Logan Act was passed after Mr. Logan, a private citizen, proposed to French lawmakers that they could improve relations between the two nations by ending France's trade embargo against the United States. France subsequently did this, Logan was extensively praised in the US press, and Congress in a fit of rage passed the Logan Act. This origin helps to clarify that the explicit intent of the act is to criminalize any actions by private citizens that might reduce the probability of a war. Therefore the test of Mr. Brennan's tweet is whether it reduces the chance of a war with Iran. If so, it clearly violates the Logan Act, so let's consider the content of the tweet.
Mr. Brennan tells Iran to 'wait for the return of responsible American leadership' before acting. In other words, he is telling them to wait for a long time, possibly forever. This is a provocative statement that clearly increases the chance of war, and it is therefore evident that it does not violate the Logan Act.
If i were to play Dr. Frankenstein, hoping to build the most loathsome, smug, vapid, weasel bureaucrat, Brennan would get the part as the monster. Great piece, Glenn. But Omar is a corrupt and despicable politician.
Good piece, and I think it would have been at least as good if Omar's misguided comments had been relegated to incidental mention. The truth is, almost certainly, that she doesn't have a clue about the reality of the Logan Act and her pronouncements about it just aren't important. Her mainstream-Dem-like instinct to defend liberally-rehabilitated evildoers such as Brennan are more interesting.
I agree with BDick59 and Doug Salzmann and would add that it is patently evident Omar and all of the New Left with a capital L are bent on the destruction of the Bill of Rights. Omar is not to be imbued as virtuous in any way just because she might, on occasion, take a position on foreign policy or other policy with which GG or I agree. To her and her squad, everything Trump does or says it bad because he says or does it. To them, being "not Trump" is in and of itself a virtue. They are the walking definition of what Nietzsche described as the Slave Morality, the defining of oneself by what one is not. Thus, Omar defends an indefensible person: John Brennan. Trump's biggest mistake, and it proved fatal, was not purging the Security State which was and remains the greatest threat to our real nationaal security with a small S.
The unfortunate truth is that Omar and the rest of the "Progressives", from AOC to "trust the intelligence agencies" Ro Khanna, are frauds whose purpose is to sheepdog low-information voters obsessed with the culture war into supporting the DNC. Whether its voting to support Adam Schiff's bill to criminalize reporting the crimes of the CIA, lining up to vote for crypt-keeper Nancy Pelosi, demanding new and overbearing corporate and government restrictions on free speech or refusing to utter the name of Julian Assange, "Progressives" are just another bunch of authoritarians. The only thing defining them from Steny Hoyer is their constant harping on identity politics, their cynical deployment of "social justice" rhetoric and an elixir of youth.
https://twitter.com/rokhanna/status/1231010597380206592?lang=en
I can guarantee that my regular sources of news would never have brought up this or criticized Rep. Omar in this way, which is why I’m so glad I’m subscribed here. I just want the truth and for both sides to be justifiably called out, and to be able to form an opinion based on that.
Brennan is a criminal...period...full stop
My primary takeaway from this piece is that Twitter is absolutely the most dangerous, and poorly utilized "tool" ever used to govern regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof). If Jack Dorsey truly wants to limit the harms that come from "misinformation" he would do the world a favor by shutting down.
Glenn you are probably giving Omar too much credit to think she was genuinely trying to make a legal argument.
Like most Americans today, both inside and outside of government, she will posture as a defender of the constitution or “our democracy” when it suits a particular situation that furthers their wrestling for power. The next moment they will advocate for sacrificing the crucial enlightenment principles that underlie civilized society, if it furthers their wrestling for power or momentarily helps their “team” gain a point or two in the battle for power in Washington.
In this case she feigns a legal argument which on its face sounds sounds sober and deliberate, yet upon further investigation (thank you Glenn), is nothing more than trying to win a point or two against an Israel government that she abhors.
It’s the common thread today: casual willingness to discard absolutely crucial enlightenment principles (such as due process or the right to dissent) to pick up a point or two against one’s opposition.
Trust me on this one @GlennGreenwald.
You do not want to get into a nuanced intellectual argument with Ilhan Omar.
You’ll win (easily) but you’ll be so much worse for having even tried to engage in a productive conversation intended to seek understanding in order for you and us to be understood on the issue of the Logan Act.
Breaking News:
Upon further analysis it turns out that--in a clear violation of the Logan Act, by the way--the unfortunate Iranian physicist was killed by a falling pallet of U.S. currency whose parachute failed to open when it was dropped out of a C-130 by order of the Office of the President-Elect's National Security Transition Team.
When asked for a comment, John Brennan reportedly said, "Oops!"
Alas, America now has two fascist parties, distinguished from each other primarily by one having a vocal socialist wing, and the other having a vocal classical liberal (or as that's called in America, "conservative") wing.
But maybe if Trump starts a war with Iran they'll give him the Nobel Peace Prize. The Establishment's hypocrisy knows no bounds.
I ended up here after seeing Mr. Greenwald's interviews with Reason and Michael Malice. This type of piece is exactly what the mainstream, self identified liberals need to see. They are missing the the important stories, even when one of their own is shouting from the rooftop trying to showing. As a right libertarian, I truly appreciate the work being done here.
Two things.
1. The Logan Act. It reminds me of a part of Canadian Military rules...that one could be charged with(and people were)...”conduct unbecoming a serviceman”.
2. There’s a meme floating around: “Mommy, a man touched me in a bad way.” to which mommy replies, “Was he a Democrat or a Republican?”
"The right to dissent from, and to work against, the official foreign policy of the U.S. Government is vital: foundational to Constitutional liberties."
"Once you start arrogating unto yourself the right to use authoritarian and lawless methods, and to align behind repressive institutions like CIA and FBI, you become exactly what you started off believing you were fighting.”
Glenn: Unless you mistakenly left out the words “openly” and “legally" in your first quote, it is wholly incompatible with the second one. What Donald Trump exposed was a permanent bureaucracy of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who, as James Comey put it, answer to a “higher calling” that reeks of your second quote--even as they and their media allies (many of whom are retired spooks to begin with) present themselves as paragons of integrity described by your first quote.
Decent Americans know the difference. They also know that, barring a miracle, justice will be denied. In short, the Constitution is being replaced by an “any means necessary” agenda that definitely includes an attempted coup, and quite possibly the wholesale (and maybe permanent) delegitimization of national elections.
>>"Dissent strengthens all democracies."
The Logan Act was passed by the same Congress that passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Sedition Act criminalized inciting rebellion against lawful authority, which is the very definition of dissent. So I think the intent of Congress was fairly clear; they wished to ensure that the United States was never confused with a democracy. Unfortunately, they have had only mixed success.
The Logan Act was passed after Mr. Logan, a private citizen, proposed to French lawmakers that they could improve relations between the two nations by ending France's trade embargo against the United States. France subsequently did this, Logan was extensively praised in the US press, and Congress in a fit of rage passed the Logan Act. This origin helps to clarify that the explicit intent of the act is to criminalize any actions by private citizens that might reduce the probability of a war. Therefore the test of Mr. Brennan's tweet is whether it reduces the chance of a war with Iran. If so, it clearly violates the Logan Act, so let's consider the content of the tweet.
Mr. Brennan tells Iran to 'wait for the return of responsible American leadership' before acting. In other words, he is telling them to wait for a long time, possibly forever. This is a provocative statement that clearly increases the chance of war, and it is therefore evident that it does not violate the Logan Act.
Rep. Omar is correct.
If i were to play Dr. Frankenstein, hoping to build the most loathsome, smug, vapid, weasel bureaucrat, Brennan would get the part as the monster. Great piece, Glenn. But Omar is a corrupt and despicable politician.