Each time I post another article in which I endeavor to correct the serially misleading claims made by alleged journalists tasked with covering the National Security Agency leaks by Edward Snowden, I’m invariably accused (mostly by a handful of anonymous trolls) of being an apologist for the government or, in most cases, an unthinking “Obamabot.” Of course, anyone who’s followed my work knows that neither is truly the case.
These kneejerk, ill-informed assertions are chiefly in reaction to the fact that I refuse to go along with the group-think and outrage porn surrounding this story simply because Glenn Greenwald has a large audience and knows how to use the word “pernicious,” or, for that matter, because we’re supposed to reflexively hate the government even when the evidence levied against it is incorrect or presented in a disingenuous way. I refuse to accept at face value the words of libertarian-leaning zealots against whom a mountain of evidence has arisen proving how they’ve repeatedly misled us with impunity, while exploiting the internet’s attention deficit disorder, lending perpetual motion to the dissemination of those lies. Anyone who knows my work will also recall that I’ve never run with that crowd for these reasons and many more.
Clearly, this has nothing to do with any particular loyalty to the government or to President Obama. My only loyalty is to rationality, pragmatism and the truth.
The reporters and articles orbiting the Snowden/NSA story are trying to con us. They’re grifters in pursuit of traffic, market share and, in a few cases, a fringe burn-down-the-village-in-order-to-save-it political agenda. Exposing the cavalcade of misleading claims isn’t commensurate with defending NSA, it’s about distinguishing between what’s real and what’s false. It’s about exposing the rigged debate.
Anyone who willingly aligns with journalistic con men, knowing the articles are shoddy, if not entirely misleading, are forfeiting their place at the grown-ups’ table.
If you need more evidence of the scam, here are three NSA headlines from the last few days. Any rational, reasonable person would deduct that these headlines flagrantly misrepresent the facts… [CONTINUE READING]