Letters to the Editor
GlennGreenwald
Published Letters: 2095 Editor's Choice: 18
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Ttherealcervantes:
[Read the article: Anatomy of Beltway conventional wisdom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Credit where it's due . . .
That's a fine post, but you know you are channeling Bob Somerby, right down to the style and some of his favorite catch phrases. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you should give him a tip o' the hat for saying these things -- or rather howling them -- every day for the past few years.
As I've said several times before, I think Bob Somerby is great. I don't read his blog as regularly as I do others (simply due to time constraints), but when I do and I use something he wrote, I credit him like I do anyone else.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if some of what Somerby wrote has influenced how I see the media process even if I'm not aware of that influence. That is how the blogosphere works, and it is one of its greatest assets. Much of its influence is viral - one bloggers writes something that another blogger reads which in turn causes the second blogger to write something and on and on - so that the first blogger greatly influenced the 10th blogger (as well as that blogger's readers, which might include journalists or producers or whomever) without anyone at the end stage of the process even knowing where those ideas originated.
That happens to every blogger. I see themes that I first read on, say, Digby's blog, being cited months later elsewhere with no credit -- not becasue the person is stealing any ideas, but because they're not even aware where the idea originated.
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TheF79
[Read the article: Anatomy of Beltway conventional wisdom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When I read the Fairbanks post, I thought she was criticizing it for the same reasons that GG is criticizing it, namely that something ridiculous like a haircut shows up on CNN's top headlines. Perhaps Fairbanks deserves a slap on the wrist for her cluelessness in perpetuating the "some people seem to think," but that seems a 2nd or 3rd order offense compared to the Drudge/MSM garbage.
I think you're mistaking her pretense (that she's above it all) with her actions action (affirming and promoting the story).
First, look at the title of her post ("I feel pretty . . ."). Then, in the first sentence, she describes the story as "cringe-worthy" (meaning Edwards' haircut and spa visit, not the reporting of it by CNN). After that, she cites the haircut story and then says "then it gets worse" -- leading to the spa excerpt. Then, she links to the You Tube clip of Edwards brushing his hair.
Yes, she includes phrases to make you know that SHE is above it all -- the "I don't give a damn" proclamation and the insertion of the word "sadly" to describe how the stupid masses think about Edwards. But she is the one promoting the story, accepting and reciting its premises, and mocking Edwards for being "pretty." The fact that she wants to place herself above the sleaze right as she spews it is not, in my view, a mitigating factor at all. In fact, one could argue that it's the opposite.
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Europe:
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've worked in European countries with strong privacy laws, some embedded in their Constitutions. (Germany is particularly strong in this regard, mostly as a result of how the Nazis used written public records to sniff out Jewish ancestry.)
It's true - as is often the case - that Europeans limit much more stringently what corporations can do with such information, but it's also true that they are far less sensitive to ways their governments can maintain such information. As EPIC says:
National ID cards have long been advocated as a means to enhance national security, unmask potential terrorists, and guard against illegal immigrants. They are in use in many countries around the world including most European countries, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Currently, the United States and the United Kingdom have continued to debate the merits of adopting national ID cards.
That's to say nothing of the news law the EU is about to mandate be enacted by all member countries criminalizing whole new categories of "hate speech."
Europe is definitely more attuned to privacy and government intrusion issues in some areas, and much less attuned in others.
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Michael Birk:
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What's so frustratingly ironic is how tenaciously the Administration clings to its claims of privacy for the Executive Branch. Of course they frequently make "national security" arguments -- some bogus, some less so. But they also do this out of "principle" -- separation of powers and Executive Privilege.
Once again the Bush Administration and their enablers have it backwards. Citizens' private lives should remain private, and the machinations driving public policy should be public.
Really an excellent point - the most secretive administration ever is also the most prying and snooping. As you point out, that is exactly backwards.
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Paul:
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My understanding (as always subject to correction) is that the centralized database of prescripions is so the feds can detect instances of Dr. shopping wherin people go to multiple doctors to get multiple scripts to treat the same pain. The most famous practitioner is of course our good friend Rush Limbaugh.
That is the ostenisble purpose of the law. Why it's the government's business what (or how many) painkillers or sleeping pills or anti-depressants adult citizens want to take is something that I'm pretty sure I will never understand.
But even assuming that it is a legitimate purpose, maintaining a massive data base of every controlled substance we ever take entails dangers that so far outweigh any "benefits."
From what I can tell, virtually no member of Congress opposed this law (just as the Read ID Act was passed more or less unanimously). Anything is justifiable if is intended to Stop Drugs (or Terrorists).
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Tiberius:
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I bet...
you all wouldn't have a problem with a national database that tracked everyone who bought a gun.
Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. But that is what tends to happen to people who run around spewing assertions without having the slightest basis for them.