@BruceBarmer @TheLastWord The only thing that matters on some MSNBC shows is who helps Obama - homophobia is good if for The Cause
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 30, 2014
Now I'm really confused.
Because if the New Greenwald Standard is that being a name-calling asshole on Twitter even once is disqualifying, shouldn't ol' Nun Rape McGee --
-- have been shut down about a million "drooling, jackbooted, servile, cultish, O-bot" tweets ago?
But then again, Glenn is never held to the same standards to which he holds others is he?
Because Glenn is not the story.
Yeah, it turns out, this "not being the story" dodge is pretty sweet. Like Karl Rove's "How dare you criticize the Preznit you fucking terrorist-lover" scam during the Bush Administration, it effectively gives one side a license to slash and burn and sometimes lie to serve their narrative, but God forbid you ever fire back because Why Do You Hate Freedom!
Meanwhile, at our house, thanks in large part to Mr. Greenwald's reporting, our 15-year-old is now well-versed enough in the facts of this story to debate and raise really substantive questions about surveillance, privacy, government overreach and lawlessness and national security. So "the public" (insofar as my household is representative of anything) is seriously discussing this issue, which makes me very happy and for which Mr. Snowden, Mr. Greenwald, et al should be congratulated.
On the other hand, somewhere along the line our 15-year-old has picked up the belief that the fate of every single leaker, whistleblower (and possibly every reporter) who crosses the United States government is automatic life imprisonment ("or worse!") so maybe it is not such a crazy idea to treat the lies with which this story has been embroidered with the same rigor as "the story" itself.
13 comments:
I would like to know what Obama administration is doing behind the scenes relative to these "revelations". Are they privately trying to smooth things over with Merkel, et al (who I'm sure all know they have been spied on anyway)? Is the Justice Department investigating possible legal actions? Has the NSA been able to assess damages to its operations or national security? POB's public posture seems to be not to make a big deal about it, ie, dismissing Snowald as a "low level hacker". I think the back story from the administration's perspective would be fascinating. Could it be they're just sitting back and letting Sno Bro's hang themselves?
I saw the MSNBC segment with Schindler. I am prepared to believe all sorts of ill of Snowden and tend to regard the NSA as more incompetent than evil. But, debating with a supersmooth and well-prepared Jameel Jaffer from ACLU, Schindler was unable even to speak coherently let alone offer any evidence for his point of view. If MSNBC is putting him on because they are in the tank for the NSA then they are doing a signally terrible job of it.
Nice to hear of young people showing a healthy distrust of the capitalist state's repressive apparatus!
Sounds like the 15-year-old is a bit more with it than his (step)parents.
Free Chelsea Manning!
U.S. imperialism - Hands off Snowden and Assange!
The purists would argue that instilling one bit of truth in your child's thought processes makes the installation of ten other falsehoods a necessary cost.
I would argue that it just adds to the garbage they have to sort through in order to determine what actually is the truth.
Really, you're just showing yourself to be an awful human being here, DG. You're defending homophobia and transphobia here. Just because you hate Glenn Greenwald so much. Fuck you.
@Anonymous 4:32
That was a cultural reference: Glen or Glenda is a movie, and a rather famous one at that. Seriously, you must think Murderer's Row is where they hold the condemned men for execution.
What "standard"? What are you talking about? Truly, yours is a weird train of thought, based on tweets, no less. And how does a smart 15-year-old's misconceptions about how the world works stand for much of anything other than the tiresome fact that 15-year-olds have misconceptions about how the world works? Stop being so fucking paranoid.
It's time for you to "man-up" to your kangaroo trial. You've been charged with barking up the wrong tree, and your motives are not admissable.
I agree with you that Greenwald is somewhat of a loose cannon but I am not sure he is so far off the mark about saying Snowden would not stand a chance of getting anything but a show trial.
It is pretty clear that Obama has a bug up this butt about security. Just read Ellsberg's latest post over at Common Dreams.
Look, the Obama administration forced down a plane carrying a foreign leader on the RUMOR that Snowden was traveling with him.
@Lumpy: Only one thing wrong. You should have said "Capitalist imperialism", etc., because the U. S. Govt., including both the Dinocratic and Reptilian wings of the Property Party, is merely a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital.
Remember, Capital is Emperor Palpatine.
Uncle Sam is merely Darth Vader.
Selah.
Oh it was a cultural reference! So if someone uses a movie title to refer to someone in a homophobic or transphobic manner, it's fine. I see.
Carry on, hate patrol.
As usual whenever Greenwald or Snowden come up here at House DGlass the stupid comes out to play and the jealousy is bathed in indignation about shit that pales in comparison with the actual story. Methinks Bradbury or Ellison would find this tiresome and counter productive, just read your fucking site's tag line again and think real hard about it for just a minute sans your jaundiced eye for Greenwald. And for the love of all that is holy let it the fuck go and focus on what you're good at because this is definitely not it.
Brother Charles Pierce himself could have written the above. The only other person that writes that well is Driftglass.
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