Lloyd Constantine, in his commentary "Talk about a nonstory; Obama isn't Nixonian," May 26, fails to discuss the actual reasons why this comparison is being made by some journalists. Instead, his essay runs interference and confuses the situation for readers.
Constantine's denigration of long-overdue media scrutiny and criticism, combined with a selective comparison of the two presidents, constitutes his misleading argument.
Critics such as Glenn Greenwald have long drawn attention to the fact that President Barack Obama has pursued a sustained attack on government whistle-blowers, using — and abusing — the Espionage Act of 1917 to pursue twice as many individuals as all previous administrations combined.
In addition, the Obama administration's case against Bradley Manning and its attempts to shut down Wikileaks for effectively doing what news organizations do every day are very similar to the Nixon administration's attempted prosecution of Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg and The New York Times.
Indeed, The New York Times' lead counsel in the Pentagon Papers case, James Goodale, has argued that Obama falls squarely within Nixon territory for his handling of the press, and that was before The Associated Press phone record revelations and the James Rosen situation at FOX News.
It is for reasons such as these that Obama is being compared to Nixon.
The Obama administration has repeatedly demonstrated an obsession with secrecy and punitiveness toward those who speak the truth to the American people.
My question for Mr. Constantine is: If these actions are not Nixonian, then what actions are?
Vincent Commisso
Albany