alternatehistory.com
McCain Administration- Summer 2013
Summer 2013
"Who the heck is Edward Snowden?..."
"Thanks to the Supreme Court, we're closer to recognizing homosexual marriage in the nation..."
"Looks the reign of President Morsi is over..."
Surveilance was often a complicated question within Washington, especially after 9/11. The Gore Administration certainly upped security measures and gave the NSA a bit more power to help cope with securing information, especially since the Gore Administration also worked to accelerate the adoption and evolution of the Internet. However, it was really the McCain Administration that buffed up security measures after the problems regarding Russia cyber attacks. However, no one was sure on how extensive the potential for surveilance existed within the NSA... until the leaks by Edward Snowden. On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times. Unsurprisingly, the revelations of the massive scope of the NSA was a bombshell for America and the world and Washington was divided on how to approach it. There were some who called him a traitor and accusations of treason flew at him, especially when he would be forced to remain in Russia after he was granted asylum (though it would be pointed out that happened after his passport was restricted around the time he was in Hong Kong.) On the other hand, there were those who called him a patriot for exposing such uncalled measures and that the NSA needs to be roped in. There are some on the fence who acknowledge that while he did commit a crime, he deserves a fair trial, especially considering his exposures. Others noted that his concerns was likely due to the extensively shady history involving the CIA. Various politicians would have their say on the matter in support of Snowden, against him in or somewhere in between. However, one thing is for certain; Snowden's actions served as a reminder to people about the power of the Internet and the responsability that came with that monitoring and analysis.
Edward Snowden picture
Meanwhile, while the questions over individual privacy and national security raged online and in the public, new stuff was happening regarding the evergrowing topic of homosexual marriage. While it was to be expected given the stance of the Supreme Court of the time, it still came as a surprise as a result of people being distracted by the various events going on, such as like with the Edward Snowden cast. However, within July, the Supreme Court would end up making two big rulings. In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court strikes down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, allowing legally married gay couples to receive over 1,000 federal benefits and privileges. Additionally, another 6-3 vote led to the Supreme Court ruling that supporters of California Proposition 8 did not have legal standing in federal court, allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California. In fact, just a couple days later, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lifts its stay on gay marriages in California, making the state the thirteenth to legalize same-sex marriage. Gay marriage in the state of California is legalized after the stay held on the unconstitutional California Proposition 8 is lifted. The two women who successfully challenged Proposition 8 in the Supreme Court of the United States are married in San Francisco. Of course, this was not the only Supreme Court cases to make a wave this summer. Just days prior, the Supreme Court upheld Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 4 had required states with a history of discrimination to get permission from the federal government to change their election procedures in any way. It was challenged because of the coverage formula is based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. Despite this though, the Supreme Court uphed it. According to the majority opinion, it held that Congress had sufficient evidence before it to determine that the coverage formula remained responsive to current needs. The dissent acknowledged that discrimination in voting has decreased in the covered jurisdictions since the Voting Rights Act's enactment, but it attributed much of that decrease to the Act itself, noting that "[t]hrowing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." This also ended up speading like wildfire over the news as well and while some try to debate it was no longer needed, the lingering question was... how sure were you on that? If it was removed, how certain were the people in regards to the fact that voting factors wouldn't be affected, especially since prominent lawyers and pundits noted that there were indirect ways that would be done.
Pro and Anti-Proposition 8 protesters rally in front of the San Francisco City Hall on the day of the Supreme Court hearings
The Morsi Presidency was controversial to say the least when it started since the last year. Protests were going on against him and the changes that he and the Muslim Brotherhood were trying to implement were chafing against the secular and or liberal party members. Even the military was starting to get sick of him and as such, a couple was planned to dispose of him and his supporters. And so in the summer of 2013, the protests came out against him due to various aspects that could be attributed to him as well as various other aspects that could not exactly be connected to him, but still brought out the ire of the people, such as the Ethiopian dam. The results were something rough for the people of Egypt. Following the President's arrest, various things followed suit., The Constitution was suspended, and a transitional roadmap declared for transportation sake, Adly Mansour becomes interim president as new elections will be held in 2014. Morsi and various other Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members were arrested and placed in detention. Pro-Morsi sit-ins were met with police brutalities while the Coptic Christian community also saw violence from unidentified groups and led to suspicion from the international community. Egypt would even be temporarily suspended from the African Union. Around the world, there were concerns on whether this was good or not, especially given the issues on both sides, even amongnst those in the Middle East though it was noted that ay disruptions in that area would be met with force. The McCain Administration initially remained quiet though McCain would later comment on the ordeal being a coup and on the military overturning the will of the people though other politicians have noted that it was the result of the failures of the Morsi administration to begin with, especially given the large protests and dissastisifcation, meaning the people weren't exactly happy with him to begin with. Overall, it would bring attention back to the Middle East and hope matters would stabilize there.
Thousands poured into Tahrir Square to celebrate what they are calling Egypt's "Second Revolution", the military's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, July 7, 2013.
"Who the heck is Edward Snowden?..."
"Thanks to the Supreme Court, we're closer to recognizing homosexual marriage in the nation..."
"Looks the reign of President Morsi is over..."
Surveilance was often a complicated question within Washington, especially after 9/11. The Gore Administration certainly upped security measures and gave the NSA a bit more power to help cope with securing information, especially since the Gore Administration also worked to accelerate the adoption and evolution of the Internet. However, it was really the McCain Administration that buffed up security measures after the problems regarding Russia cyber attacks. However, no one was sure on how extensive the potential for surveilance existed within the NSA... until the leaks by Edward Snowden. On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times. Unsurprisingly, the revelations of the massive scope of the NSA was a bombshell for America and the world and Washington was divided on how to approach it. There were some who called him a traitor and accusations of treason flew at him, especially when he would be forced to remain in Russia after he was granted asylum (though it would be pointed out that happened after his passport was restricted around the time he was in Hong Kong.) On the other hand, there were those who called him a patriot for exposing such uncalled measures and that the NSA needs to be roped in. There are some on the fence who acknowledge that while he did commit a crime, he deserves a fair trial, especially considering his exposures. Others noted that his concerns was likely due to the extensively shady history involving the CIA. Various politicians would have their say on the matter in support of Snowden, against him in or somewhere in between. However, one thing is for certain; Snowden's actions served as a reminder to people about the power of the Internet and the responsability that came with that monitoring and analysis.
Edward Snowden picture
Meanwhile, while the questions over individual privacy and national security raged online and in the public, new stuff was happening regarding the evergrowing topic of homosexual marriage. While it was to be expected given the stance of the Supreme Court of the time, it still came as a surprise as a result of people being distracted by the various events going on, such as like with the Edward Snowden cast. However, within July, the Supreme Court would end up making two big rulings. In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court strikes down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, allowing legally married gay couples to receive over 1,000 federal benefits and privileges. Additionally, another 6-3 vote led to the Supreme Court ruling that supporters of California Proposition 8 did not have legal standing in federal court, allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California. In fact, just a couple days later, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lifts its stay on gay marriages in California, making the state the thirteenth to legalize same-sex marriage. Gay marriage in the state of California is legalized after the stay held on the unconstitutional California Proposition 8 is lifted. The two women who successfully challenged Proposition 8 in the Supreme Court of the United States are married in San Francisco. Of course, this was not the only Supreme Court cases to make a wave this summer. Just days prior, the Supreme Court upheld Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 4 had required states with a history of discrimination to get permission from the federal government to change their election procedures in any way. It was challenged because of the coverage formula is based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. Despite this though, the Supreme Court uphed it. According to the majority opinion, it held that Congress had sufficient evidence before it to determine that the coverage formula remained responsive to current needs. The dissent acknowledged that discrimination in voting has decreased in the covered jurisdictions since the Voting Rights Act's enactment, but it attributed much of that decrease to the Act itself, noting that "[t]hrowing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." This also ended up speading like wildfire over the news as well and while some try to debate it was no longer needed, the lingering question was... how sure were you on that? If it was removed, how certain were the people in regards to the fact that voting factors wouldn't be affected, especially since prominent lawyers and pundits noted that there were indirect ways that would be done.
Pro and Anti-Proposition 8 protesters rally in front of the San Francisco City Hall on the day of the Supreme Court hearings
The Morsi Presidency was controversial to say the least when it started since the last year. Protests were going on against him and the changes that he and the Muslim Brotherhood were trying to implement were chafing against the secular and or liberal party members. Even the military was starting to get sick of him and as such, a couple was planned to dispose of him and his supporters. And so in the summer of 2013, the protests came out against him due to various aspects that could be attributed to him as well as various other aspects that could not exactly be connected to him, but still brought out the ire of the people, such as the Ethiopian dam. The results were something rough for the people of Egypt. Following the President's arrest, various things followed suit., The Constitution was suspended, and a transitional roadmap declared for transportation sake, Adly Mansour becomes interim president as new elections will be held in 2014. Morsi and various other Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members were arrested and placed in detention. Pro-Morsi sit-ins were met with police brutalities while the Coptic Christian community also saw violence from unidentified groups and led to suspicion from the international community. Egypt would even be temporarily suspended from the African Union. Around the world, there were concerns on whether this was good or not, especially given the issues on both sides, even amongnst those in the Middle East though it was noted that ay disruptions in that area would be met with force. The McCain Administration initially remained quiet though McCain would later comment on the ordeal being a coup and on the military overturning the will of the people though other politicians have noted that it was the result of the failures of the Morsi administration to begin with, especially given the large protests and dissastisifcation, meaning the people weren't exactly happy with him to begin with. Overall, it would bring attention back to the Middle East and hope matters would stabilize there.
Thousands poured into Tahrir Square to celebrate what they are calling Egypt's "Second Revolution", the military's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, July 7, 2013.
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