The Anchoress
A few days ago, Glenn Greenwald tweeted to this link. Go, read.
Perhaps it was just a joke, ala Catch-22: “pssss! they’re going to disappear him!”
And perhaps not.
And now the Whistleblower has outted himself, which I think is probably a very smart idea. Better off in plain sight:
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. “I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organisations – the NSA.
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: “I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions,” but “I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.”
Despite his determination to be publicly unveiled, he repeatedly insisted that he wants to avoid the media spotlight. “I don’t want public attention because I don’t want the story to be about me. I want it to be about what the US government is doing.”
He does not fear the consequences of going public, he said, only that doing so will distract attention from the issues raised by his disclosures. “I know the media likes to personalise political debates, and I know the government will demonise me.”
Despite these fears, he remained hopeful his outing will not divert attention from the substance of his disclosures. “I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in.” He added: “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.”
Read it all. Also, “I mistakenly believed Obama’s promises”.
Why’d he do it?
According to Howard Kurtz: Glenn Greenwald says surveillance source came to him because of “supine, subservient behavior” by American media “when it comes to the govt”
Duh. And, yeah. Our “watchdog**” media surrendered its teeth to this administration in 2007 and has been rolled over waiting for belly rubs ever since. They gave up all of their credibility to be able to ask Obama how he got so great, and what “enchants” him. They couldn’t even sustain their outrage about the DOJ spying on the AP, or calling James Rosen a criminal for doing his job.
Pant, pant, pant.
**I really want to say “leg-loving media”. But I’m trying to be ladylike.
UPDATE:
Why the NSA wants all that Verizon Metadata and why they need it
Glenn Reynolds notes how interesting it is to watch the left-right divide erode. That’s someone’s worst nightmare, but whose?
UPDATE II A Look Back: Maxine Waters, in February of 2013, said “the President has put in place an organization that contains the kind of data base that noone has ever seen in life…. “That database will have information about everything on every individual, and they say it’s never been done before…” and that it’s all about “Organizing for America”…you know…one of those pesky 501(c)4’s.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In