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Jonathan Turley: But they have more of an ability to do it, because they know that they're starting out by dividing the usual --
John Cusack: Opposition.
Jonathan Turley: -- community, right --
John Cusack: Got it.
Jonathan Turley: -- that supports whistleblowers. And it's the same thing with civil liberties -- they know that at least half of the usual folks who support whistleblowers will remain silent if the assault is by President Obama. And it's part of this cult of personality that has taken hold of so many liberals and Democrats and progressives.
John Cusack: Yeah. We see that every day.
Jonathan Turley: But the crackdown on whistleblowers is an example of a rather muted response. The Obama Administration has gone full tilt against whistleblowers. They have shown very little sympathy or restraint. But there has been precious little coverage of that. I mean, I thought the Democratic Convention was eye-opening, when you looked at the party platform from 2008 in comparison to 2012. Whole areas of civil liberties disappeared between those two conventions. And even though it's true that these conventions are pretty much content-less, the refusal to even mouth support from some of the principles in his reelection campaign was really striking from indefinite detention to torture.
John Cusack: I know.
Jonathan Turley: I mean, it's evaporated. The same thing with warrantless wiretapping -- drone murders -- even Americans killed without out even a coherent legal argument or standard --
John Cusack: But he was on Jon Stewart, and he did say that killing Americans isn't optimal,
Jonathan Turley: Yes.
(Laughter)
John Cusack: -- that is sort of a loose acknowledgement of some of the messy and pesky affairs of state.
Jonathan Turley: Yes. It's sort of like taking a convertible out in the rain. It's not optimal.
John Cusack: No, not optimal. Sometimes you just need to hold people in prison without trial and assassinate them. But not optimal.
Jonathan Turley: It really does show the infatuation with drones in this administration. Few people know that President Obama has used drone attacks many times more than Bush ever did. Obama's off the charts in terms of drone attack.
