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Event
War on Whistleblowers: Free Press & the National Security State
War on Whistleblowers: Free Press & the National Security State, a film by Robert Greenwald, to benefit the Bradley Manning Defense Fund.
One screening only. A benefit for the Bradley Manning Defense Fund (Manning currently being court-martialed for releasing documents to Wikileaks; see www.bradleymanning.org) And there will be a facilitated discussion following the film.
From Rick Perlstein's review of War on Whisteblowers in The Nation:
The sin of being correct is a theme of the piece. "I have found all too frequently the government claims the publication of certain information will harm national security," we read onscreen in an affidavit from The New York Times's James Risen, "when in reality, the government's real concern is about covering up its own wrongdoing." In fact, former Times executive editor Bill Keller says, "I think these stories have helped more than they've hurt national security"and the Times' David Carr notices a correlation between how secret information is supposed to be and how bad it is for the reputations of the people involved. Or their profits: "We talk about a national security state that's interested in security," Seymour Hersh says, 'but in fact it's interested in the security of corporate interests."
And under Obama it's been worse. That really sinks in watching The War on Whistleblowers. "I was very optimistic about hope and change coming in 2008," we hear Thomas Tamm say. "I thought the Obama administration would actually say that I had done the right thing, that I had followed the law, and that we would even be honored to have you come back and work for the Department of Justice. In retrospect, how stupid and naive could I be?"
The War on Whistleblowers may not be as stylish as Alex Gibney's Wikileaks documentary We Steal Secrets, out now in theaters. It's better, though, at conveying the full context of the chokehold our national security state is exercising on our civic life.
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LocationThe Grand Cinema (View)
606 S. Fawcett
Tacoma, WA 98402
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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