dagblog - Comments for "Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower"

I have always looked forward

artappraiser — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 19:13:30 +0000

I have always looked forward to and respected your comments, moat, and I hoped you wouldn't take that the wrong way and you didn't.

I just felt like I had to respond 'cause I just despise the trajectory of the last decades of talk-radio-influenced and further, blog-rant-influenced, screaming and yelling passionate advocacy in media. When a media entity takes a steady principled stance and attempts advocacy on the same with calm, logic and thoughtfulness, I like to support that. As old fashioned as that's become. Cucumber sandwiches are nice sometimes, I'd welcome seeing a lot more of them.

I guess I need to get out

moat — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 03:00:44 +0000

In reply to Huh? They worked as partners

I guess I need to get out more. The whole reporting versus opinionating function of the journal is hard to keep track of. Are the stories opinion or are the opinions the story?

I accept that the NY Times has not suddenly changed its course by making this statement. I also admit a certain prejudice because of what went down at the paper during the build up of the Iraq War.

Apart from many issues of the past, I celebrate the change of tone the public editor eludes to. It is a big deal to speak this plainly and directly about the fate of a criminal of the state. It will make a difference after having been put this way.

Huh? They worked as partners

artappraiser — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 15:16:16 +0000

In reply to Just when I began to think

Huh? They worked as partners with The Guardian on publishing Snowden's docs.

As far as Editorial, some examples blasting the Obama admin from their June 6 editorial, "President Obama's Dragnet":

...The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue. Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it....

...Mr. Obama clearly had no intention of revealing this eavesdropping, just as he would not have acknowledged the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, had it not been reported in the press. Even then, it took him more than a year and a half to acknowledge the killing, and he is still keeping secret the protocol by which he makes such decisions....

...we strongly object to using that power in this manner. It is the very sort of thing against which Mr. Obama once railed...

and Maiello offers more examples from July 2:

I'm impressed and a bit surprised to see that The New York Times has become the most consistent progressive voice against the post 9/11 security state...

and the Public Editor elaborates this Thursday

...The Times has written strong editorials about Mr. Snowden ever since the former contractor for the National Security Agency emerged into the national consciousness last spring. In general, The Times’s editorial page has supported Mr. Snowden, calling him a whistle-blower who has done a public service for American citizens by revealing vast – and unconstitutional – government surveillance.

But the moment for something larger arrived more recently, Mr. Rosenthal said.

“It felt like there was a real critical mass,” he said, with recent rulings by federal judges, Congress’s bipartisan consideration of legal changes, the recommendations of a panel appointed by President Obama, and the unified statement of protest by Internet companies, who are not normally great champions of privacy.

“With all of that, and year ending, it seemed like a great moment to say it,” he said.....

Punch Sulzberger must be

jollyroger — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 02:22:40 +0000

In reply to Just when I began to think

Punch Sulzberger must be nervous about Bezos' hiring Rachel Maddow..."He feels a shadow on his grave..."

From the article "Obama

Resistance — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 02:16:58 +0000

In reply to Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower

From the article

"Obama said at a news conference. “So there were other avenues available for somebody whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood

"For three days in November, she was found to have high levels of contamination on her person and in her home. That month, while driving to meet with David Burnham, a New York Times journalist, and Steve Wodka, an official of her union's national office, she died in a car accident under mysterious circumstances."

Just when I began to think

moat — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 02:03:34 +0000

In reply to Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower

Just when I began to think the old grey lady has fallen asleep on a bed of cucumber sandwiches she looks up sharply and demands an explanation for these covert policies and why someone had to become a criminal for us to learn about it.

Happy New Year.