NSA Leak: The Bogus Edward Snowden Narrative

There’s a spurious narrative about NSA leaker Edward Snowden and it goes something like this:  Snowden sure picked some questionable places to flee to (China, Russia) if he’s so worried about his freedoms. Both liberal and conservative pundits have issued this narrative and comedian Bill Maher has told jokes invoking it. But the problem with this bogus anecdote is that it assumes Snowden leaked information for his own personal benefit. So far there is zero evidence that he did this for fame or did this to advance a self-serving agenda. All indications are that Edward Snowden leaked the NSA spying information, including details about the PRISM program, because he truly cares about our constitutional rights being infringed by our government.

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NSA Leak: David Gregory Suggests Glenn Greenwald Should Be Charged With A Crime

David Gregory - Meet the Press - image by DonkeyHoteyOn Sunday’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Glenn Greenwald, “To the extent that you have aided and abetted [Edward] Snowden [NSA leaker], even in his current movements, why shouldn’t you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?” Last week I wrote about “groupthink” within the ranks of the mainstream media, and David Gregory is now Exhibit A. I believe a journalist could cross a line from reporting the news, to becoming the news, but is that what Greenwald set out to do? Is that what he’s done? Or is the mainstream media out to get him? Right now I put my money on the latter. The mainstream media coverage of the Snowden story falls under complicit reporting of government affairs, not objective reporting. It’s the kind of journalism that kept the executive branch unchecked and led us into two wars.

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Quote: Edward Snowden: You Simply Have To Eventually Fall Under Suspicion

“You simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody even by a wrong call. And then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made, every friend you’ve ever discussed something with. And attack you on that basis to sort to derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.” – (NSA leaker) Edward Snowden

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NSA Leak: Law-Breaking, Civil Disobedience, And Who Do You Trust?

Democrats will need to go above and beyond to be trusted when it comes to their opinion on the NSA leak by Edward Snowden. What do I mean by that? With a Democrat in the White House, I don’t trust Democrats who say Snowden is a traitor. Similarly, I don’t trust Republicans, particularly libertarians, who say Snowden is a patriot or a hero.

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NSA Spying: The Collective ‘Meh’ Heard ‘Round America (Pew Poll)

Meh - photo by Thomas HawkAmericans read about NSA surveillance of internet traffic and data mining of phone records and they responded with a collective “meh.” This blog doesn’t exactly tear it up in the page view department, but my recent posts on NSA Spying have gotten very little traction at all. And that leads me to believe when it comes to the NSA leak story, Americans just don’t give a shit.

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