Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, June 11, 2014, Page 6, Image 6

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    ÿlortlanh (Obstruer
Page 6
June II, 2014
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: I small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
How can this be happening during
Barack Obama’s presidency?
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
th
Other Services): $5.00
%
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• Area & Oriental Rug
Cleaning
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
SEE CURRENT FLYER
FOR ADDITIONAL
PRICES & SERVICES
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
Forging a
secret legacy
E mily S chwartz G rego and
W illiam A . C ollins
E dw ard S n ow den is trying to set
the record straight ab o u t w hat e x ­
actly he w as doing b efo re he blew
the w histle o n w idespread g o v ern ­
m ent snooping.
B ack w hen he m ade headlines by
sharing his rev elatio n s and opting
to stay stuck in R ussia rath er than
serving tim e in a U .S. prison, m ost
jo u rn alists d escrib ed the 29-year-
old co m p u ter jo c k as som e kind o f
geeky peon en g ag ed in governm ent
contracting w ork. H e says he was
h ig h er up the national security food
chain.
“ I w as trained as a spy in sort o f
the traditional sense o f the w ord, in
that I lived and w orked undercover
overseas — p retending to w ork in a
jo b that I ’m not — and even being
assigned a nam e that w as not m ine,”
Snow den told N B C N ew s in a recent
by
interview .
S ecretary o f State John K erry
prefers to label S now den as a “co w ­
ard ” and a “ traito r.” T hat leaves
little do u b t reg ard in g the g u y ’s fate
if he w ere to follow K erry ’s d em and
to “m an u p ” and return to the U nited
S tates.
A fter all, consider w hat happened
to C helsea M anning. S h e’s currently
s e r v in g 35 y e a r s . M e a n w h ile ,
w h e re ’s the p ro secu tio n o f the h e­
lico p ter crew she exposed on video?
T h ey g unned do w n Iraqi civilians in
2007 w ithout g am erin g attention
o v er here. T hanks to M an n in g ’s
actions, W ikiLeaks brought the foot­
age o f that incident to light in 2010.
J o h n K ir ia k o u m a y la c k
M a n n i n g ’s
fa m e ,
but
th e
w h istleb lo w er’s punishm ent fo r e x ­
p o sin g w ro n g d o in g in the ranks
c o n stitu te s a n o th e r g o o d reaso n
fo r S now den to steer clear o f his
native country.
T he form er C IA investigator b e ­
gan serving a 2 .5 -y ear sentence in
February 2013. W hat did K iriakou
do? H e identified to his superiors
tw o f e llo w a g e n ts w h o h a d
w aterboarded prisoners. Y ou can
read w hat h e ’s up to behind bars in
h a n d -w ritte n le tte rs F ired o g lak e
publishes on its w ebsite.
W o u ld n ’t it be nice to find out
w hy he landed b ehind bars instead
o f the w aterb o ard ers? D o n ’t co u n t
on getting any answ ers soon. T hose
m atters tend to be secret. A nd o ur
go v ern m en t m akes secrets classi­
fied inform ation. Plus, any federal
e m p lo y e e w h o k n o w s a n y th in g
about these things is d eem ed sen si­
tive.
T h ese are im p o rtan t w ords. A n y ­
one in a jo b defin ed as “national
security sensitive” can be fired w ith­
out cause and w ithout protection o f
the C ivil S ervice Act. T his p u n ish ­
m ent typically arises from reporting
illegal g o v ern m en t actions. A nd if
one reports on “classified ” w ro n g ­
doings, one usually goes to jail.
T he m ore evil the act being re­
p o r te d ,
th e
lo n g e r
th e
w h istleb lo w er’s sentence.*
H ow can this be h ap p en in g d u r­
ing B arack O b a m a ’s presid en cy ?
T h e fo rm er p ro fesso r o f c o n stitu ­
tional law prom ised a new era o f
open g o v ern m en t during his 2008
cam paign. H e d id n ’t deliver.
“T h e a d m in istra tio n ’s w ar on
leaks and oth er efforts to control
inform ation are the m ost aggressive
I ’ve seen since the N ixon ad m in is­
tration, w hen I w as one o f the e d i­
tors involved in T he W ashington
P o s t’s investigation o f W aterg ate,”
L eonard D ow nie Jr. says. N one o f
the v eteran jo u rn a lis ts he in te r­
view ed fo r aC om m ittee to Protect
Jo u rn alists rep o rt on this secrecy
can “rem em b er any p recedent.”
T he O bam a adm inistration is also
failing to keep its p ledge to expedite
the d eclassificatio n o f old g o v ern ­
m en t secrets. T h a t b a ck lo g has
grow n by 33 m illion pages since
2010, the B oston G lobe reports.
S im ply put, th e W h ite H ouse is
p laying h ard b all to keep reporters
from divulging anything em barrass­
ing. I t’s also go in g overboard to
avoid em b arrassm en t through other
m eans.
M a n y p ro m in e n t jo u r n a lis ts
c o m p la in e d a b o u t th e c o rro s iv e
im p a c t o f th is c u ltu re in D o w n ie ’s
re p o rt, b u t i t ’s im p o ssib le to k n o w
w h a t th is m e a n s in te rm s o f new s
sto rie s th a t a re n ’t g e ttin g re p o rte d
an d th e e ro s io n o f p u b lic c o n fi­
d e n c e in b o th th e g o v e rn m e n t an d
th e m e d ia .
G o v ern m en t secrecy, even w hen
it’s invoked in the nam e o f national
security, poisons o u r dem ocracy.
Emily Schwartz Greco is the
managing editor of OtherWords, a
non-profit national editorial ser­
vice run by the Institute for Policy
Studies. William A. Collins is a
former state representative and a
former mayor o f Norwalk, Conn.