Sarah Palin is a part of the irrational right, fundamentalist, authoritarian mob. She's "with us". Surveillance is OK when it's targeted at the Other or when it's used to keep Innocent Bystanders in line (i.e. if you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of).

More than anything, hacking Palin's e-mail throws the double standard in her face, a sign of profound disrespect--and that's what's pissing her and the Right off more than anything. That and the hidden scandal-nuggets she was too dim-witted to leave out of her e-mails.

Sarcasm becomes you.

:-)

the hacker should be apprehended and prosecuted

Actually, if I were Palin, I would be suing Yahoo for failing to adeqately secure their servers.

As for prosecution, according to your logic, Ellsberg should have gone to prison for the Pentagon Papers.

Whoever the hacker was, seems to me he/she was merely bringing some transparency to the political process, something Palin pledged to do for Alaskan government, before she adopted the Cheney approach and tried to govern off the books. Well, screw Cheney and screw Palin, and I'm rooting for the hacker to get away with it. Bottom line, all the hacker did was let some sunlight into the foetid darkness that is the GOP.

So now its ok to hack into people's emails?? This site has hit a new low by publishing filth like this. Obama you just lost a vote!

Perhaps Greenwald's best column. It should be shoved up the ass of every wingnut in America.

Read. End of first paragraph:

Either way, whoever did this committed a serious crime -- it's rather revolting to see screen shots of someone's inbox splattered across the Internet -- and the hacker should be apprehended and prosecuted.

Got that?

As for prosecution, according to your logic, Ellsberg should have gone to prison for the Pentagon Papers.

People who commit crimes can't claim afterwards that they had a good reason to do it and expect therefore to be immunized. Ellsberg said he knew that when he leaked the Pentagon Papers that he very well might go to prison because it was against the law. People who engage in civil disobedience know the same thing. That's what makes their acts courageous -- that they do it willing to suffer the consequences, not that they do it and then hope to claim aftewards that they had the right to break the law.

You can't pretend to believe in the rule of law and then claim that people who clearly broke the law with what you think is a good reason should be given the right to do so. It's exactly what Bush followers say -- "sure, he broke all our laws, but did it to keep us Safe, so why should he be punished?"

Whoever the hacker was, seems to me he/she was merely bringing some transparency to the political process, something Palin pledged to do for Alaskan government, before she adopted the Cheney approach and tried to govern off the books. Well, screw Cheney and screw Palin, and I'm rooting for the hacker to get away with it. Bottom line, all the hacker did was let some sunlight into the foetid darkness that is the GOP.

Claiming that the hacker did something beneficial or acted with the right motives -- or even hoping that he gets away with it -- isn't the same as saying that what he did is legal. You don't actually know what the motives were, but it doesn't matter. What he did was a crime, and that's true even if he did it with good motives, it had good results, and you look at him as a hero.

As I read this, and enjoyed it, I realized that some people would have trouble understanding the heavy sarcasm. Sure enough, in the first few comments...

Great article, Glenn. Hoisted by their own petards.

Dear Mr. O'Reilly,

Welcome to our world. Do you plan to stay long?

Sincerely,

The Reality Based Community

I'm not sure if you're aware of it, Rich007, but this comment board provides links to your other letters. Something tells that if Obama somehow "lost" your vote, it happened quite a while ago, and not due to Mr. Greenwald's column.

Here's a tip: If you're going to post a letter consisting of three sentences, try to keep at least one of them somewhat rooted in reality. Provides a hook to get us to buy your other crap, you know?

Glenn, clearly you should have a medical degree in order to carry around those kinds of surgical instruments you just used to carve out the word "hypocrisy" into the foreheads of the rightwingnutty class. Or maybe an art degree, I can't really decide.

I sincerely hope your take on this gets amplified by Olbermann and Maddow. This is the EXACT type of example we need to point out the insanity of the positions being taken by "Billo the Clown" and others. No doubt Rush Dumbaugh will be good for any number of quotes today on his show.

Thank you Mr. Greenwald for the best read I've had in weeks. Your logic gives me hope....

Isn't Roe v. Wade really about establishing a constitutional right to privacy? If you don't think there is one, why be upset about having your private emails splashed across the world? It makes no sense.

Also, Glenn, you are 100% right- you either respect the rule of law with rights afforded to all or you are on the slippery slope that we've been going down for the last 8 years.

WTF does Obama have to do with Glenn's article or the hacking of Palin's email account?

Unless you are arguing that Obama was involved in, or approves of, the hackery - something not suggested, insinuated or even mentioned in Glenn's article - your comment makes less than no sense whatsoever.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

A fine takedown.

I think what she has to hide is her own decision-making processes and personal thoughts, which are probably much more venal than she would have us think.

I am government employee and all the e-mails that I write in the process of my employment are a public record and can be obtained by anyone who asks for it.

That is the way my state wants it. Of course, it also means that when you write an e-mail on official business you make sure that you only write what you don't mind anyone seeing.

A few years ago a colleague who was a data processing expert in the state capital made the mistake of sending an e-mail to a contractor thanking his company for the entertainment and the massages and he was fired! Serve him right for not knowing that state employees may not be massaged by contractors.

I don't condone anyone hacking into Palin's personal e-mail, but I don't see why her communications as an officer of the State of Alaska should not be available for all to see, even if some of them do make her look silly.