

Blogger, With Focus on Surveillance, Is at Center of a Debate - uvdiv
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/business/media/anti-surveillance-activist-is-at-center-of-new-leak.html

======
doe88
I think Glenn Greenwald is a damn good writer, I used to read his articles a
lot when he was writing for _Salon_ , he really read a lot, has an extensive
knowledge of this area and knows how to use all these excerpts and quote
extensively to prove his point. Think of a kind of _The Daily Show_ segments
but for written articles. As I'm actually busy myself in my work I must say
I'm not able to read all his writings since he started working for The
Guardian, but I am both happy and worry that this is him that brought this
proof to the public knowledge. I hope the US Gov will have the decency to
admit it was fair game and not try to retaliate, but I must say based on past
outcomes I'm not optimist about that. And this article insisting in calling
him a _blogger_ , I don't know their motivations maybe to separate him from
_real journalists_ but it makes me sick, typical from NYT though.

~~~
rpgmaker
Seriously, that's an insult to Glenn Greenwald. The Daily Show is good as far
as entertainment goes but Greenwald writes about serious stuff in a very
concise and substantive way.

------
davidmr
It wouldn't be unprecedented for him to be held in contempt for refusing to
reveal a source, but the article doesn't make clear that it is not illegal for
a journalist to leak classified information as long as they're not the one who
holds the clearance. It is very illegal for someone who holds a clearance to
provide that information to a reporter, but if you happen to stumble across it
without breaking the law, you can publish it.

Mark Klein, the AT&T engineer who found the NSA wiretaps in the AT&T colo was
never prosecuted for this reason. He was just doing his job, sans clearance,
and stumbled into the blueprints.

------
grandalf
There is a game of chess going on and the NY Times just played an interesting
move. It wrote a story that appears to flatter Greenwald but in fact gives the
reader the lexicon to dismiss/ignore him.

Clearly if the NYT wanted to be doing investigative journalism to challenge
government overreach, it would be.

~~~
darkarmani
Yes. Why did the put all those smear (slander) quotes at the end of the
article?

~~~
grandalf
Also the bizarre photo in which he looks stressed out.

------
chrisgd
He is a lawyer that practiced with one of the most prestigous firms in the
country and has written several best selling books, including a NY Times
bestseller or two. Calling him a blogger is the NYTimes attempt to discredit
him to a certain extent in the eyes of their readers.

------
ibrahima
I'm really glad he did this, took a lot of bravery I'm sure. I almost get the
feeling that he's happy to be in the crosshairs of the US government.

------
mtgx
They are not even hiding they are going after journalists who expose their
crimes now, are they?

~~~
lostlogin
Ask an Al-Jazeera reporter what its like getting into the US. I don't read Al-
Jazeera stuff very often, but I've never found anything that didn't seem to be
good quality reporting. Yet their reporters are held for hours at the US
border and questioned at greater length than actual terror suspects who've
gone on to bomb stuff. It's bad.

~~~
jebeng
I've found Al-Jazeera to be the best news network out there. It seems to be
only one that's not ridiculously biased and ratings driven.

~~~
ihsw
AJ is in an interesting position:

* most news networks in the middle east are state-run (and very obviously oppressive with heavy censorship), however AJ operates distinctly independently

* as such people in the middle east are exposed to news they wouldn't normally be exposed to, for example controversial news stories or other news stories that require strict objectivity

* western news networks are increasingly rebroadcasting AJ footage, most interestingly because AJ acquires exclusive interviews that other news networks aren't privy to

* AJ provides live feeds of their news channel _for free_ online

* they are growing, and have plans to offer[1] Turkish (Turkey), Spanish (Latin American), and Urdu (Pakistani) channels

It's exciting to say the least.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Plans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Plans)

~~~
cinquemb
Not being state run does not mean it is not under the influences of the state
and the position its leaders take.

 _" First, it is home to al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network that has
transformed how Arabs get their news. Many give the television channel more
credit for spurring on the Arab Spring than Facebook or Twitter. By bringing
the revolutions into the homes of every Arab, al-Jazeera drew regional
attention to early events in Tunisia and helped boost the number of Egyptians
on the streets from the thousands to the hundreds of thousands. Al-Jazeera
gives Qatar “soft power” well beyond its size."_[0]

Kinda like the history between the CIA and many news organizations that
"operate distinctly independently".[1]

[0]: [http://www.cfr.org/qatar/tiny-qatars-big-plans-may-change-
mi...](http://www.cfr.org/qatar/tiny-qatars-big-plans-may-change-
mideast/p26143)

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_the_media#Use_of_mass_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_the_media#Use_of_mass_media)

------
Alex3917
Bradley Manning leaks classified information after learning that he was going
to get kicked out of the military for being gay. Greenwald publishes this
article after basically getting kicked out of the country for being gay.
Anyone starting to see a pattern here?

~~~
ihsw
Glenn mentions this and specifically points out that there is a pattern:

> When you grow up gay, you are not part of the system, it forces you to
> evaluate: ‘Is it me, or is the system bad?’

One has to wonder whether the government considers gays and lesbians high-risk
dangerous individuals, and furthermore whether they should establish inclusive
policies for gays and lesbians to deter any anti-establishment tendencies (or
to establish exclusive policies discouraging or preventing gays and lesbians
from holding sensitive government jobs).

~~~
darkarmani
> One has to wonder whether the government considers gays and lesbians high-
> risk dangerous individuals,

It used to be a security clearance risk. The idea that you might be
blackmailed with the threat of being outed.

~~~
tomjen3
I could see that be an issue with that today too (as would extra marital
affairs, gambling debts, etc) but I doubt they would care one way or the other
if you weren't in the closet.

------
flooyd
If the U.S. prosecutes Greenwald, then it's time to prepare for a revolution.

~~~
KNoureen
Considering NSA and other three letter agencies apparently have quite plenty
of surveillance equipment installed, I think your revolution will be met at
the door step by two gentlemen in black suits.

~~~
flooyd
1\. I never claimed to be a part of any revolution. I'm not.

2\. This is a burner account and I'm logged in via tor.

~~~
swombat
You're not taking into account the invisible, microscopic swarm of nanocameras
that have been hovering around you since fifteen years ago, when, aged 12, you
posted a comment that now strongly correlates with later activities that are
not condoned by the government, especially since the new laws passed 2 years
ago.

~~~
shrikant
This thread is ripe for a Slashdot-esque comment:

"I think revolution is the only way for@#�%((((#*;;;";!@

NO CARRIER"

------
uvdiv
_"The article, which included a link to the order, is expected to attract an
investigation from the Justice Department, which has aggressively pursued
leakers."_

------
danso
It's doubtful that he will be prosecuted. What's much more likely is that his
source will be the target of a hunt and subsequently prosecuted as have other
leakers recently

------
Vivtek
Hahaha! Greenwald would love that...

------
jellicle
It's a nice hit piece the NYT whipped up. Do they normally publish biographies
of journalists who write leak pieces? No? Only when it's time to smear
someone. Here's what the NYT was asking:

[http://ggsidedocs.blogspot.hk/2013/06/nytsullivan-email-
exch...](http://ggsidedocs.blogspot.hk/2013/06/nytsullivan-email-
exchange.html)

Is he a weirdo loner biased advocate gay blogger? Just say yes!

Really sad to see the NYT fighting against transparency in government.

------
einhverfr
Will the US prosecute Greenwald for the leak? No way. If they do that, it will
be harder to say anything about free speech or freedom of the press in this
country, and that is not the American way.

What is, unfortunately, the American way, is to try to find something else to
charge him with (see Assange for example), not only to silence him but also to
discredit him. Do not be surprised if allegations of pedophilia or other
crimes are made.

Many decades ago my mother's uncle
([http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/caughlan_inter...](http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/caughlan_interview.shtml))
began to build his private legal practice on defending people from Smith Act
prosecutions due to involvement with the Communist Party USA (ironically he
never really considered profit much of a motivator for him, and he left a high
powered law firm to defend the Community Party), distributing Marxist
literature, and the like. Did the government come after him? Yes. With the
Smith Act? No. They didn't want to come right out and say "we don't want these
people to have good legal representation." Instead they came with a variety of
unrelated, and eventually sent him to prison for a year. Unusually he was
reinstated to the bar on his release (which is somewhat unusual). (Listening
to the interviews with him, I hadn't known he was kicked out of the ACLU for
defending civil liberties of Communists.)

The goal wasn't to throw him in prison but to take away his voice. It didn't
work with John. He went on to fight, fight, and fight some more, eventually
winning significant victories for political freedom in this country. With
someone like Greenwald, though I don't know. It does seem to have been fairly
effective at discrediting Assange.

I harp a lot on "Show me the man and I'll find you the crime" and certainly we
are not at the same level the Stalinist USSR was, but I can tell you that it
is something that has roots in the US as well.

~~~
tome
Assange hasn't been charged with anything by the US.

~~~
madaxe
But, but, he's a rapist! So we should all denounce him.

This is the view now held by most about Assange, sadly.

On the note of Greenwald, it looks like it's already started:

Gabriel Schoenfeld, a national security expert and senior fellow at the Hudson
Institute who is often on the opposite ends of issues from Mr. Greenwald,
called him, “a highly professional apologist for any kind of anti-Americanism
no matter how extreme.”

They'll be calling him a terrorist within the week.

~~~
einhverfr
I still stand by it, they will pay someone to make accusations of pedophilia
or something. Calling him a terrorist is too close to the controversy. The
approach taken to Assange is far more effective.

~~~
jlgreco
This time around, I wonder if some "rogue" politician will suggest that a
drone should airstrike him.

~~~
einhverfr
Still too close. Far better to find something to tarnish his character.

------
Buzaga
Apparently, he doesn't live in US but in Brazil(where I'm located, also), the
irony is that since he's not in US it's they can probably run PRISM all over
his stuff... I mean, he's american so maybe there's some little safeguards,
but at this point he's probably already considered an enemy of US or aiding it
so this can be bypassed, and even if not, since invading ALL PRIVACY of
foreigners, me included, seems to be cool, they can run it through everyone
near him and 'accidentally' get what they want, lawls...

------
madaxe
Absolutely they will, as they have in other similar cases. They may or may not
succeed, but they already have a track record of going after journalists, so I
don't see why this should be any different. If they don't push for
prosecution, he'll probably have an "accident" at some point in the not too
distant future, like has happened to plenty of other whistleblowers, or at the
very, very least, they'll turn his name to mud through aspersions and
insinuations of sex crimes and so-forth.

------
prollyignored
Where is Sam Lowry ?

