Comments on: Journalistic Truth & Source Protection

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:38:49 +0000

Thank you, Barbara.

I’m an Australian citizen now and have lived here for rather a long time, but it is quite disconcerting to see the country that I grew up in (the USA) devolve to the point where personal rights and freedoms seem to be more and more eroded with each passing year. The government over there seems to use any unfortunate incident as another excuse to clamp down further on people’s rights.

Lovely to have you come by for a visit and leave comments.

By: Barbara Weibel

Barbara Weibel — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:11:33 +0000

Hi Debroah:
How refreshing to find your well-written, insightful blog.

We are definitely going through tough times in this country, bred by fear, which have resulted in ridiculous actions and policies from security agencies. I was particularly alarmed by the TSA assertion that Chris Elliott was NOT a journalist; fortunately he was able to disabuse the agents of this notion. But it does not bode well for the body of legitimate bloggers, nor, I believe, for our society in general.

I’ve followed you on Twitter, bookmarked your blog, and will be returning.
Barbara

By: Deborah

Deborah — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:17:05 +0000

I was quite concerned when I saw that this one journalist was singled out for this kind of harassment. Can you imagine how upsetting it would be to have a federal agent turn up on your doorstep with a subpoena? And no matter how ‘nice’ the agent might have been to the children and the cats, it is still rather sinister.

Elliot has a high profile in the journalism community and I believe that is why he was plucked out of the writing community to be made an example of.

Your comments about the treatment of people of Middle Eastern origins are also quite disturbing to read. That sort of unthinking speech and action is quite destructive to any attempts at building a cohesive and fully functioning multicultural society. We have a few wobbles with that sort of thing here in Australia, but they are few and far between compared to what happens over there.

Glad you enjoyed the article and please do pass it on to others who are still concerned about freedom and the right to know the truth.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:28:37 +0000

Deborah, thank you for posting this reminder to those of us who’ve been asleep in this country (the United States). I spoke with a gentleman that I know who’s ancestry drew him through the Middle East over his lifetime, and recently he’s moved to this country, to “realize his dream” for his family. He told me that after this incident which has raised the ire of so many of the sleeping, he was yelled at not once, but twice, by people who upon hearing his accent, decided that he was worthy of suspicion. You know the type, working stiffs going to the local liquor store for their sleeping juice after a hard day’s work, who then decide that their anger is sufficient training to determine another man’s motivations. Well, I am praying that this recent development by another whack-job doesn’t turn into what we went through in 2001-2002, when “we” turned over so many of our rights in this country, to the government.
Again, Deborah, kudos, and thanks for the heads-up!