The Demonization Machine Cranks Up Against Edward Snowden
Matt Welch
Jun. 11, 2013 11:06 am
It's always instructive to see who quickly takes the government's side in a dispute with a whistleblower, and what kind of argumentation they deploy. David Brooks was certainly a predictable candidate. Here's a sampling of a few others:
Roger Simon, chief political columnist for Politico, former White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, former political editor of U.S. News & World Report:
- Think you're a loser just because you dropped out of high school and
never finished
- Think you're a dud just because you work as a security guard even though you dreamed of becoming a global savior?the military training you began?
- Well, don't beat yourself up. You, too, can become an international super spy like Edward Snowden.
- Think you're a dud just because you work as a security guard even though you dreamed of becoming a global savior?the military training you began?
- Real whistleblowers don't flee the country.
- In a remarkably overwrought interview conducted by the vainglorious
Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian, Snowden cited not one example of the
programs being abused. Greenwald wrote that Snowden "lines the door
of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping" and that
"he puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his
passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them."
Greenwald said that "Snowden will go down in history as one of
America's most consequential whistleblowers." I think he'll go down
as a cross-dressing Little Red Riding Hood. [...]
- Everything about Edward Snowden is ridiculously cinematic. He is not paranoiac; he is merely narcissistic. He jettisoned a girlfriend, a career and, undoubtedly, his personal freedom to expose programs that were known to our elected officials and could have been deduced by anyone who has ever Googled anything. History will not record him as "one of America's most consequential whistleblowers." History is more likely to forget him.
- Everything about Edward Snowden is ridiculously cinematic. He is not paranoiac; he is merely narcissistic. He jettisoned a girlfriend, a career and, undoubtedly, his personal freedom to expose programs that were known to our elected officials and could have been deduced by anyone who has ever Googled anything. History will not record him as "one of America's most consequential whistleblowers." History is more likely to forget him.
- [S]ome,
including my colleague John Cassidy, are hailing him as
a
hero and
a whistle-blower. He is neither. He is, rather, a grandiose
narcissist who deserves to be in prison. [...]
- The question, of course, is whether the government can function when all of its employees (and contractors) can take it upon themselves to sabotage the programs they don't like. That's what Snowden has done.
- The question, of course, is whether the government can function when all of its employees (and contractors) can take it upon themselves to sabotage the programs they don't like. That's what Snowden has done.
- Turns out Edward Snowden the former CIA employee and NSA contractor
who leaked documents revealing top-secret National Security Agency
programs tracking terrorist communications is a Paulbot. [...]
- The revelation is of particular interest because one of the harshest critics of the NSA since the leaks began has been… Senator Rand Paul. Taken in isolation, the fact that Snowden supported the elder Paul's presidential bid should not necessarily tar the senator. Politicians can't be held responsible for all the actions of their supporters. But in addition to his campaign contributions, Snowden's comments explaining his reasons for leaking are virtually indistinguishable from Senator Paul's criticisms of the NSA program.
- The revelation is of particular interest because one of the harshest critics of the NSA since the leaks began has been… Senator Rand Paul. Taken in isolation, the fact that Snowden supported the elder Paul's presidential bid should not necessarily tar the senator. Politicians can't be held responsible for all the actions of their supporters. But in addition to his campaign contributions, Snowden's comments explaining his reasons for leaking are virtually indistinguishable from Senator Paul's criticisms of the NSA program.
- Now you've got this 29-year-old high school-dropout whistleblower
making foreign policy for our country, our security policy....We've made
treason cool. Betraying your country is kind of a fashion statement. He
wants to be the national security Kim Kardashian. He cites Bradley
Manning as a hero.
- I mean, we need to get very, very serious about treason. And, oh by the way, for treason as in the case of Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden you bring back the death penalty.
- I mean, we need to get very, very serious about treason. And, oh by the way, for treason as in the case of Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden you bring back the death penalty.
And while the gold standard for civil disobedience remains publicly accepting the punishment from the government whose laws you dispute, the fact is not every act of whistleblowing or defiance is going to be conducted by a perfect replica of Martin Luther King. Would Ari Fleischer be brave enough to stand and take the heat for such an act? The question answers itself.
Meanwhile–as in King's case–the massive machinery of American police power will be focused on making the renegade look like a maximally traitorous deviant. You do not have to pre-emptively declare Snowden a saint (indeed, we will almost certainly hear word that he is not), to be repelled by both the status quo he aims to challenge, and the enthusiasm with which Fourth Estaters enable the executive branch.
Reason on Snowden here.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/11/the-demonization-machine-cranks-up-again --
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