This president has become a tragic figure, more so every day with each new revelation of how far the surveillance state has been developed and implemented under his watch. And how far they will go — detaining the partner of reporter Glen Greenwald, investigating other reporters, smashing the hard drives of a leading newspaper — to intimidate journalists and editors trying to report on it. Big Brother is watching, and cracking down on those who want to reveal the King’s secrets. The U.S. even has bugged European Union offices — supposedly our allies — and world leaders at international conferences of the G-20.
The Obama administration has become a virulent threat to democracy. When even a former president, Jimmy Carter, says “America has no functioning democracy at this moment,” you know things have deteriorated dramatically. The specter of a Democratic president like Obama implementing the security agenda of Dick Cheney and Ronald Reagan’s former NSA chief Admiral John Poindexter is troubling in the extreme.
President Obummer says he’s protecting us, but who’s going to protect us from HIM? Will this song put me on some “watch list” somewhere, Mr. Precedent? I really do wonder…
Have I implicated any of you by sending you this email (given the NSA admission that they extend surveillance to “three-hops” — friends of friends of friends – millions from a single target)?
We have to speak out in whatever ways we can. Thus, this song “President Obummer” — dedicated to the whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Tom Paine of our times. Our country and all true patriots salute you.
To President Obummer – “We will be the stone inside your shoe.”
Our most important fundraising appeal of the year
December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. So before you navigate away, we ask that you take just a second to support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation.
This year is a little different. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board.
We can only resist Trump’s agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.
We’ve set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $180,000 to keep up our fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout before December 31. If you have the means, please dig deep.