11
May

Glenn Greenwald debates Bill Maher on U.S. Intervention in Muslim Countries

Finally someone has obliterated Bill Maher’s smug sense of superiority. Bravo.

02
Apr

Email war erupts between Glenn Greenwald and Sam Harris

Sam Harris: “The article is defamatory—indeed, it is beneath responding to—and it was destined to be buried in noise until you retweeted it. You endorsed it and amplified its effects—hence my annoyance. What part of that process don’t you understand?” 

Glenn Greenwald: “I think you’re embarrassed that people are now paying attention to some of the darker and uglier sentiments that have been creeping into this form of athesim advocacy, and are lashing out at anyone helping to shine a light on that. A bizarre and wholly irrational fixation on Islam, as opposed to the evils done by other religions, has been masquerdaing in the dark under the banner of rational atheism for way too long.”

The bickering is in reference to this article, which posits that New Atheists, and Harris in particular, promote “scientific racism” towards Muslims. Greenwald tweeted the article earlier today. Harris also posted the email exchange on his blog.

24
Jan

One indisputable lesson that history teaches is that any structures built by human beings - no matter how formidible or invulnerable they may seem - can be radically altered, or even torn down and replaced, by other human beings who tap into passions and find the right strategy. So resignation - defeastism - is always irrational and baseless, even when it’s tempting.

I think the power of ideas is often underrated. Convincing fellow citizens to see and care about the problems you see and finding ways to persaude them to act is crucial. So is a willingness to sacrifice. And to create new ways of activism, even ones that people look askance at, rather than being wedded to the approved conventional means of political change (the ballot box).

…putting fear (back) in the heart of those who wield power in the public and private sector is, to me, the key goal. A power elite that operates without fear of those over whom power is exercised is one that will be limitlessly corrupt and abusive.

05
Dec
Many people believe it demonstrates their worldly sophistication to express indifference toward bad behavior by powerful actors on the ground that it is so prevalent. This cynicism – “oh, don’t be naive: this is done all the time” – is precisely what enables such destructive behavior to thrive unchallenged.
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Glenn Greenwald

THANK YOU. 

03
Dec
Once you vow unconditional, permanent loyalty to a politician and a party - once you demonstrate that you will support them no matter what they do - why would you possibly expect that they will do anything but ignore you? A rational politician, by definition, pays attention to those whose support is conditional and uncertain, not to those who loudly proclaim that it is a solemn duty to support that politician and his party under all circumstances. That’s just the basic rules governing how power works, of negotiations and politics: those who eagerly renounce all their leverage make themselves inconsequential and impotent.
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Glenn Greenwald

Democrats and Obama supporters are in the best position to pressure the President into revising, or perhaps even eliminating, certain policies. Yet their hatred for Republicans seems to consume their every waking thought, thus allowing the President to do as he pleases with nary a word of dissent. 

13
Nov

Saw the great Glenn Greenwald tonight at a panel discussion about journalism and documentaries. Also on the panel was Jeremy Scahill, who debuted a brief but exceptional clip from a documentary he’s working on about U.S. drone strikes.

29
Oct
Patriotism is not defined by loyalty to a particular elected official or political party. Indeed, excess loyalty to a single individual or party is the very antithesis of patriotism, as it places fealty to that individual or party over allegiance to the country, its interests, and its values. True patriotism is measured by the extent to which one believes in, and is willing to fight for and defend, the defining values and core principles of our country.
- Glenn Greenwald, How Would A Patriot Act?
26
Oct
Ample ink is spilled over debating whether the US media is biased in favor of Republicans or Democrats. It is neither. The overwhelming, driving bias of the US media is subservience to power, whoever happens to be wielding it.
25
Sep
Democrats spent several days at their convention two weeks ago wildly cheering and chanting whenever President Obama’s use of violence and force was heralded. They’re celebrating a leader who is terrorizing several parts of the Muslim world, repeatedly killing children, targeting rescuers and mourners, and entrenching the authority to exert the most extreme powers in full secrecy and without any accountability — all while he increases, not decreases, the likelihood of future attacks.
30
Aug
The reason I write so little about the presidential election is that it’s the ultimate expression of the CNN-ization of American politics: a tawdry, uber-contrived reality show that has less to do with political reality than the average rant one hears at any randomly chosen corner bar or family dinner. That does not mean the outcome is irrelevant, only that the process is suffocatingly dumb and deceitful, generating the desire to turn away and hope that it’s over as quickly as possible.
27
Aug
People who resist the natural human tendency to follow, venerate and obey prevailing authority typically have a much different view about how oppressive a society is than those who submit to those impulses. The most valuable experiences for determining how free a society is are the experiences of society’s most threatening dissidents, not its content and compliant citizens.
09
Jul
Is there any doubt that a proposed military attack on Iran would quickly and easily command support from the leadership of both parties, just as the attack on Iraq did? In fact, given the more direct role of Israel here, the consensus for attacking Iran would be almost certainly stronger and more bipartisan than even the Iraq War generated. Here we have almost half of the U.S. Senate — liberals, moderates and conservatives — jointly demanding an escalation with Iran and all but endorsing a war before the U.S. Government even proposes one.
06
Jul

Glenn Greenwald: United States has “the Western world’s harshest and most oppressive system of punishment.”

27
Apr
The same person who directed the DOJ to shield torturers and illegal government eavesdroppers from criminal investigation, and who voted to retroactively immunize the nation’s largest telecom giants when they got caught enabling criminal spying on Americans, and whose DOJ has failed to indict a single Wall Street executive in connection with the 2008 financial crisis or mortgage fraud scandal, suddenly discovers the imperatives of The Rule of Law when it comes to those, in accordance with state law, providing medical marijuana to sick people with a prescription.