NY Times reverses itself on SWIFT

[2dsdad]

<p>The public editor (ombundsman?) at the Times now says they should not have published the article about the secret tracking of bank transactions. Oops.</p>

<p>

There were reasons to publish the controversial article, but they were slightly outweighed by two factors to which I gave too little emphasis. While it’s a close call now, as it was then, I don’t think the article should have been published.</p>

<p>Those two factors are really what bring me to this corrective commentary: the apparent legality of the program in the United States, and the absence of any evidence that anyone’s private data had actually been misused.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/y5cfs3[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/y5cfs3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But at the the time all I heard was the baying about the illegality of the program, the trampling on individual rights and the invasion of privacy by the fascists in the White House. Now it seems that really wasn’t the case. So, they blew the cover on an important tool for tracking terrorists and all the story gets is a correction buried somewhere in the paper, a journalistic whatever?</p>

[CITATION_X]

<p>clearly worried about possible prosecution: otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered</p>

[parent2noles]

<p>While in general I never would want a prosecution of the Fourth Estate, one or two examples would probably cool the unauthorized release of sensitive classified information. It appears that the Democrat staffer who has been suspended may well be a place to start with one example. </p>

<p>It was reported that 3 days after this person requested and received the latest NIE that parts of the document appeared in the NYT. Timing is everything, generally, but a thorough investigation is warranted.</p>

[ariesathena]

<p>Well, these are the same people who said they would have preferred non-violent tracking programmes to torture or Gitmo… but they got their tracking programmes and threw a fit.</p>

[2dsdad]

<p>Gosh, I think back on the righteous outrage, the column-inches of diatribes about the illegality of the program, the hand wringing about invasion of privacy. Now we have an admission from the perpetrators of the exposure of the program (a little more of a threat to the national security than the “outing” of the CIA non-operative, Valerie Plame, IMO) that the program was legal and that no one’s privacy was invaded and the response from the barking mad left is…a deafening silence. </p>

<p>Not only have they lost a point of argument, they are losing whatever credibility remains. Plame Affair - gone. SWIFT - gone. The economy - don’t even bring that one up after 4 plus years of good news. Tax cuts - let’s not talk about the record river of revenue that is flowing into the US Treasury as we speak. Abramoff - still there but both parties are in desparate CYA mode until after the elections. </p>

<p>What argument do the Dems have for turning power over to them now? What is their platform? The online sexual fantasies of a disgraced ex-congressman? Gay Republican congressional staffers who choose not to wear their sexual preferences on their sleeves? Yeah, right, you’ve got my vote.</p>

[CITATION_X]

<p>No one can say it publicly: however the entire Foley case was a mountain out of a molehill - ok some congressman pervert who happens to be a republican sent some suggestive emails to a 17 yr old page and there was some additional worse IM’s, - but we really don’t who sent them - and Hassert gets some complaints yrs back about Foley</p>

<p>THE HORROR of it all</p>

<p>One would have thought the world had ended; the scandal of the century with 14 straight DAYS OF HEADLINE NEWS ON THE MAJOR NETWORKS AND THE NY TIMES AND OTHER MEDIA - such as Time Magazine - with their cover story with the elephant facing his tale-end into the camera</p>

<p>Actually just the latest (mostly left wing media created) Hissy Fit - about #37 since Bush was first elected</p>

[momfromme]

<p>The “NY Times” said no such thing. </p>

<p>Yes, this was the ombudsman, but he is not the publisher or the editor or the journalists who reported the story.</p>

[driver]

<p>And your point is…?? What did the NYT say, and when did it say it?</p>

<p>They have good crossword puzzles on the weekend, though.</p>

[momfromme]

<p>My point is that the premise of the post is wrong. </p>

<p>The NY Times did NOT reverse itself.</p>

[driver]

<p>How would it (the NYT) know, momfromme? They seem to have a lot of loose-cannon reporters and a dearth of editorial responsibility.</p>

[momfromme]

<p>Know what?</p>

[driver]

<p>Stick to the comic section.</p>

[momfromme]

<p>Thank you for your very thoughtful reply.</p>

[momfromme]

<p>I so appreciate being directed to the comic section.</p>

<p>You are so kind.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I thought the democratic platform was a tax system that was fairer to the middle class, health care for all, social security reform and a better solution than “stay the course” and “things are going very well” in Iraq.</p>

[2dsdad]

<p>“The NY Times did NOT reverse itself.”</p>

<p>Mr. Calame is an employee of the Times, an Editor and his job description is given as follows:</p>

<p>“As the readers’ representative, Mr. Calame responds to complaints and comments from the public and monitors the paper’s journalistic practices.”</p>

<p>I guess I am not quite understanding the difference between “The NY Times” saying they were wrong and their editor in charge of monitoring the paper’s practices saying “we were wrong”. I am a simple man and the nuance, the shading escapes me.</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>what did the NYT do wrong</p>

<p>Didn’t Bush tell us they were trackiing $$…gosh</p>

[itstoomuch]

<p>The banking system must have a certain amount of transparency and at the same time a certain amount of secrecy inorder to function properly. All those pieces of bank/financial/insurance notices of privacy should tell you that information about you is easily obtained by those who desire it. Many banks/financial institutions have been heavily fined and put on probation for improper internal monitoring of transactions. </p>

<p>Have you ever wondered how a check/credit purchase gets processed and that you can call up the bank/credit card people a day latter and see if the money has been transferred? Give it another few days and you can see the electronic picture of your check on your very own computer. If you can watch your transaction, don’t you think that someone else can do likewise?</p>

[driver]

<p>Nice column in this morning’s Herald.

Prior to exiting, Byron, you may consider launching a soul-searching campaign at the New York Times.I’d encourage a look at the decision to report on the National Security Agency’s warrantless electronic monitoring of emails and phone calls between the United States and suspect individual overseas.The outrage your paper and others stirred up over a program that falls well within the law and harms no law-abiding American citizen, and the notice you served to terrorists and their supporters of its existence, constitute aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.
But don’t stop there.You have been greatly privileged – beyond your merit – to hold a lofty and influential position overseeing the morality and ethics of our newsgathering profession.
The American media is morally and ethically adrift, and in need of guidance.You could be the one, based on this revelation, to provide some. Faced with a spreading threat to our fundamental values and freedoms by Islamic fascists, the media in the United States is predominantly of the view, and encourages the belief, that the United States government in its execution of conventional and unconventional war against clearly demonstrated threats poses the greater threat to our way of life.</p>

<p>Our media has repeatedly propagated falsehoods about what the administration and the president have said, about what was known and about what in some cases has been borne out about the threats we have faced from al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein and others. This has been done to such an extent that reasonable people cannot be blamed for believing their president lied to them before committing troops to battle. To the extent that some seemingly responsible people now question whether we face any threat at all. The history leading up to the conflicts and crises we face has been repeatedly misrepresented, in a manner that undercuts the authority of a wartime president and threatens the credibility of our nation in the world – the single most important nation in maintaining stability in the world.</p>

<p>…But with Byron Calame’s remarkable admission, we see what could be the beginnings of an awakening. I’m not holding my breath.But I’m an optimist.And I think I just saw a hairline crack in the arrogance of one of America’s most powerful media institutions.

<a href=“http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=163812&format=&page=1[/url]”>http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=163812&format=&page=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[2dsdad]

<p>

what did the NYT do wrong</p>

<p>Didn’t Bush tell us they were trackiing $$…gosh

They can’t have it both ways. They can’t be outraged over an illegal, secret, domestic spying program run by the government and then say they didn’t commit an error by revealing the program because it was never secret or illegal and that US citizens were never the target of the program.</p>