From Glenn Greenwald's Exclusive Interview in Salon on the subject of Glenn Greenwald:
What Exciting!New!Revelations! will tomorrow bring in the ongoing saga of "Glenn Greenwald Is Not The Story"?...Today, Greenwald believes he miscalculated. In an exclusive interview Wednesday he said that the ominous rhetoric directed at him has actually escalated. It’s discouraged him from visiting the United States, where he still has strong family and professional ties. And though he intends to re-enter the country sooner rather than later, he’ll do so despite the fact that he believes he faces a much greater risk of detention than most of the other journalists who have access to some or all of Snowden’s files.“As the story kind of went on I thought the prospect of something happening to the journalists would dissipate to zero. I actually think that the risk is higher than it’s ever been,” Greenwald told me. “My parents are getting older, my nieces [live there] — none of that is something I’m going to go home for now…. I had a foundation that wanted to sponsor and pay for and market aggressively a six-city speaking tour to talk about the NSA story and the revelations. I would have completely loved to have done it… on the assurance that nothing would happen. And because we couldn’t get it from the U.S. government, I had to cancel.”When we last spoke in August, Greenwald was cognizant of the risks he’d face if he visited the United States, but he was also pointedly defiant. “I take more seriously the Constitution’s guarantee of a free press in the First Amendment,” he said at the time. “So I have every intention of entering the U.S. as soon as my schedule permits and there’s a reason to do so.”Today he remains defiant...
Watch this space!
Meanwhile, Barton Gellman remains mysteriously at-large.
Once again, let me reiterate that I respect (and sometimes disagree with) the opinion of those who are heartily sick of people who keep trying to distract from the important and consequential story of NSA abuses by dragging the personal dramas of Glenn Greenwald into it.
If you are one of those people --
For the benefit of anyone for whom reading is perhaps not fundamental, Glenn Greenwald's personality, and the peripatetic globe-trotting of Edward Snowden, are not the story here. If you decide to make them the story, then you are taking yourself off the real story, and that's your fault, not Greenwald's or Snowden's...
-- I strongly urge you to direct your comments to:
* At this point, let us save our more comically unhinged Purity Angels some keystrokes and stipulate that since my status as betrayer of all Liberal goodthinkfulness and sekrit ally of the jackbooted fascist something something is already firmly established, you can scuttle back to wherever you hibernate during the dozens and dozens dozens of posts I write that never mention Mr. Greenwald and go back to sleep.Brian Beutlerc/o Salon260 West 36th St, Suite 901
New York, NY 10018
8 comments:
Oh, if only everyone could make the dramatics of Glenn Greenwald the story, then this whole saga would just go the heck away! All the proof needed is that Barton Gellman (and ignore that fact that he's in some kind of club, please) is still at large.
You don't get this kind of insight from just anyone; isn't there some big-bucks outfit just aching to throw money at the sort of towering contrarian intellect on display here? They do it for David Brooks and Tom Friedman. Why not driftglass?
Life is just unfair, it is.
HURR HURR JUST LIEK BROOKS AND FRIEDMAN HURR DURR DRONEGLASS
God, the trolls here are sub-4chan quality. Can't you take all that Filthy Jackbooted Fascism-Loving Obot Money you get and pay for some good ones?
No "reporter" in the mainslime media except Sean Wilentz (and I'll include Salon and other prominent web sites in this definition, along with network and cable "news") has laid out an end to end timeline of events (which, by all rights should go back to the establishment of the NSA in 1952 or 1953)just documenting Snowden's claims and his actions ot sure what the "real" story is. Snowden entered into an employment contract with the intention to steal documents. He said he was concerned about NSA invading privacy of American citizens. So called "reporting" of these practices and violations in many cases includes the fact that FISA warrants must be obtained (per established law). He the also provides documents which include details of US spying operations on other countries, which begs question of what does this have to do with NSA invading privacy in US. He then praises countries (Russia, China, Brazil) for being bastions of civil liberties and human rights (which they aren't), unlike the US. The media's unquestioning acceptance of Snowden's contradictory explanations and statements is puzzling because I think both Snowden's contradictory statements and action and the media's ignoring those contradictions is definitely a story. Also, the biggest contradiction to me is why were spy agencies accepted by Americans and the elite (with some exceptions) for all of these years, and now, suddenly, this is the biggest scandal ever. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that there's an African American Democratic President.
"Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that there's an African American Democratic President."
[snarktag]
Because of course, there's no reason anyone might object to any of the policies an African-American President signs off on, other than the accident of his being African-American.
[/snarktag]
He's been Prez for over five years now. Isn't it time for some new tactic other than "IF YOU DON'T THINK OBAMA IS MR. WONDERFUL YOU MUST BE A RACIST"?
But then, why change the tactic when it still works so well on some people, for reasons which elude me?
" Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that there's a Democratic President."
Works just as well that way and may cause the wee monster to lose a little less of his shit.
Extreme people do tend to be, well, extreme.
In my experience, those who test the outer bounds of our social order are not usually normal people. They are usually a bit out there and often even unlikeable.
Personally, I'm glad Snowden did what he did, and I'm glad Greenwald is discomfiting the oligarchs. I also am a fan of Chelsea Manning. de gustibus non disputandum est.
But, you know, I suspect I would find it very challenging to spend time with any of these guys. I subscribe to Snowden's Twitter feed, and his comments are often way off in the libertarian lunisphere. I think Greenwald can have those tendencies, too, but he manages to hide that stuff a bit better.
Driftglass, maybe you should lay off Greenwald a bit for a while. It's not good for a soul to nourish these thoughts. It causes bad situations to recur. Karma it's called, and it clings to our flesh like the Old Man of the Sea clung to Sinbad. On the other hand, it's a lot more entertaining to watch you attack Greenwald than listen to you sing
"Kumbaya," so maybe my advice is ill-founded.
Beutler is one of a crop of writers over at Salon who, if you go by their headlines, seem to be just discovering that conservatives are a pack of rabid dogs.
Which would be annoying enough, except that they also insist on predicting the imminent demise of the GOP.
It's like watching a little flock of adorable baby ducks wander onto Normandy Beach during the invasion.
What I'm saying is I do not trust Beutler's grasp of the political situation, and I'm annoyed when I see him try.
Whennaryugonna wriet about Justin Bieber??/? Hes my hartthrobb, ya know!!!!!11!1!
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