Today, United States officials are “reaffirming” the US’s “commitment” to freedom of speech and a free press on World Press Freedom Day, however, there remains one glaring case of repression against a journalist, who President Barack Obama has ordered Yemen to keep imprisoned. His continued imprisonment grossly undermines any messages coming from the US government about its dedication to promoting press freedom.

There are steps President Barack Obama could take right now to expedite the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison camps, where prisoners currently engaged in a major hunger strike continue to be held in detention. Yet, Obama and his defenders insist Congress is solely responsible for why the prison continues to be open and why prisoners cleared for release have not been freed.

There is no concrete evidence that the brothers, who are suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon, were inspired by US-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Yet, CNN has posted a report with the headline, “From the grave, the cleric inspiring a new generation of terrorists,” that promotes this new detail as if it is certainly true.

A Senate subcommittee held a much-anticipated hearing on drones and the United States government’s “targeted killing” policies this afternoon. One of the witnesses called to testify was retired US Air Force colonel, Martha McSally.

Farea Al-Muslimi is a journalist, writer and pro-democracy activist from Yemen. He was invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on the Constitution and human rights.

Six days ago, Al-Muslimi reports the remote mountain village where he lives, Wessab, was struck by a drone . The attack “terrified thousands of simple poor farmers,” and its impact, he says, tore his heart, “much as the tragic bombings in Boston last week tore your hearts as well as mine.”

Journalist and national security correspondent for The Nation, Jeremy Scahill, appeared on “Democracy Now!” this morning for the entire program to discuss his project, Dirty Wars, which explores the United States’ global assassination program.

The project consists of a book and film. The book was released today. The film has been screening at film festivals and events around the country and the trailer for the film premiered on “Democracy Now!”.

Scahill spends the hour outlining in detail the life of US-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was targeted and assassinated by a US drone strike in September 2011. He also discusses Anwar’s father, Nasser al-Awlaki, who mounted an effort to have evidence for why Anwar was placed on a “kill list” disclosed. Later in the program, he recounts the killng of Anwar’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who was born in Denver, Colorado, and the justifications and excuses the US government have uttered in relation to their deaths.

“Today, even George Orwell would have been pressed to conceive the plight of the 86: cleared for release, but denied freedom, using a hunger strike as their last weapon, only to be kept alive by the very people who will not let them go.” —Rupert Cornwell, The Independent

Over the weekend, US forces raided a part of the Guantanamo Bay prison and moved some of the prisoners from communal areas to “single-cells.” The Pentagon reported the action was in response to “efforts by detainees to limit the guard force’s ability to observe the detainees by covering surveillance cameras, windows, and glass partitions.”

The Pentagon also stated, according to coverage by Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, “Some detainees resisted with improvised weapons and, in response, four less-than-lethal rounds were fired.” Army Col. Gregory Julian at US Southern Command, “which has oversight of the prison camps operation,” apparently claimed that captives had “resisted the assault with broom and mop handles as well as plastic water bottles that had been wrapped and modified into clubs.”

The United States Senate confirmed John Brennan, who served as President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism adviser and was a key architect of the Obama administration’s secret drone policy, to the position of CIA director today. The confirmation came a day after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) mounted a more-than-twelve-hour filibuster on the Senate floor.

Most of the men imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay prison’s Camp 6 have been on hunger strike for nearly three weeks, according to their attorneys. In response to reports, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and habeas counsel have sent a letter to military officials take measures immediately to improve the situation.

The letter notes, “Since approximately February 6, 2013, camp authorities have been confiscating detainees’ personal items, including blankets, sheets, towels, mats, razors, toothbrushes, books, family photos, religious CDs, and letters, including legal mail; and restricting their exercise, seemingly without provocation or cause.” Additionally, “Arabic interpreters employed by the prison have been searching the men’s Qur’ans in ways that constitute desecration according to their religious beliefs, and that guards have been disrespectful during prayer times.”

The words in President Obama’s “State of the Union” speech were often lofty, spinning through the air with the greatest of ease and emitting dog whistles as they flew.

Let’s decode the President’s smooth oratory in the realms of climate change, war and civil liberties.