America over-classifies information. The designations ‘secret,’ ‘top secret,’ ‘for your eyes only,’ and many others like them are thrown around too freely; too many folders and dossiers receive the dreaded stenciled stamp that indicates their contents may not be perused by the wrong people. The consequences of this bingeing on classification are predictable: all aroundContinue reading “Leaking Furore Par For The Course For Nation That Over-Classifies”
Tag Archives: Wikileaks
Robert Caruso, Clinton Campaign Fellow, Advocates War Crimes (Before Denying He Did So)
Hillary Clinton’s reputation as a warmongering hawk is a well-established one. As the New York Times reported back in April in an essay titled “How Hillary Clinton Became a Hawk,” she could talk the hawk talk, and walk the hawk talk too: Bruce Riedel, a former intelligence analyst who conducted Obama’s initial review on theContinue reading “Robert Caruso, Clinton Campaign Fellow, Advocates War Crimes (Before Denying He Did So)”
Chelsea Manning’s Bad Luck With The American Polity
In The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind The Wikileaks Whistleblower(Verso Press, New York, 2013) Chase Madar writes: If any lesson can be drawn from the Manning affair, it’s that leaks can make a great difference if there is organized political muscle to put them to good use. Information on its own is futile; as uselessContinue reading “Chelsea Manning’s Bad Luck With The American Polity”
Chase Madar On American ‘Anti-Authority Posturing’
In The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind The Wikileaks Whistleblower (Verso Press, New York, 2013) Chase Madar quotes Ray McGovern, ‘a retired CIA analyst’ and admirer of Chelsea Manning, as saying that “he who isn’t angry [in the face of injustice and evil] has an ‘unreasoned patience [and] sows the seed of vice….Bradley ManningContinue reading “Chase Madar On American ‘Anti-Authority Posturing’”
Journalism Should Embody Anarchist Ideals
Bill Keller‘s lengthy online exchange with Glenn Greenwald makes for very interesting reading. It illuminates a great deal, especially the modern ‘mainstream’ understanding of journalism–as ‘objective’ reporter of ‘facts’–and its supposed ‘responsibilities’ and the ‘alternative’ view of journalism as fundamentally adversarial, beholden to no nation or state, dedicated to exposing the machinations of the powerful.Continue reading “Journalism Should Embody Anarchist Ideals”
2012’s Top Five Posts (Here, Not Elsewhere)
2012, the year that was (or still is, for a few more hours), turned out to be a busy one for blogging at this site. I wrote three hundred and twenty-four new posts, bringing the total for this blog to three hundred and fifty-five. The blog finally crossed fifty thousand views. (A humbling figure, ifContinue reading “2012’s Top Five Posts (Here, Not Elsewhere)”
Bill Keller Needs to Drop the Snark and Do Serious Journalism
Over at the New York Times, Bill Keller, who has been doing his best to make sure it will be hard to take him for a serious journalist, writes a piece–bursting to the seams with snark–on Wikileaks. Keller thinks he is providing a serious evaluation of the fallout of Wikileaks (most particularly, its leaking ofContinue reading “Bill Keller Needs to Drop the Snark and Do Serious Journalism”
Samir Chopra 