David Brooks: Edward Snowden is the worst traitor EVER!

[jsr]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/opinion/brooks-the-solitary-leaker.html

The Solitary Leaker
By DAVID BROOKS

...He betrayed honesty and integrity, the foundation of all cooperative activity. He made explicit and implicit oaths to respect the secrecy of the information with which he was entrusted. He betrayed his oaths.

He betrayed the cause of open government. Every time there is a leak like this, the powers that be close the circle of trust a little tighter. They limit debate a little more.

He betrayed the privacy of us all. If federal security agencies can’t do vast data sweeps, they will inevitably revert to the older, more intrusive eavesdropping methods.

He betrayed the Constitution. The founders did not create the United States so that some solitary 29-year-old could make unilateral decisions about what should be exposed. Snowden self-indulgently short-circuited the democratic structures of accountability, putting his own preferences above everything else.

[Luminous Animal]

1. And so many Democrats are on board with the Republicans.

Barf, indeed.

[Puzzledtraveller]

2. Authoritarianism on full display

[Luminous Animal]

4. Home of the brave? I think not.

[arely staircase]

34. in china

nt

[rhett o rick]

13. Bull crap. The Republicans want to get rid of Pres Obama for any reason. Even if they approve of his

actions. The left want the rights of the Constitution reestablished. No Patriot Act, no domestic spying and no indefinite detention. Where do you stand?

[Luminous Animal]

17. Where do you think I stand because your post makes no sense to me.

[rhett o rick]

18. Why wont you tell us where you stand? I stand with freedom and liberty before party.

Can you say the same?

[Luminous Animal]

19. I honestly don't know where this is coming from and I won't be a subject to this

kind of questioning whether I am allied with you or not.

Not cool.

[rhett o rick]

43. I apparently misunderstood your post #1. I mistakenly thought your barb

was aimed at the left. And my question about where you stand was not intended to be disrespectful. It is often hard to tell how a poster leans from short posts. I apologize.

[BlueCheese]

20. I think the two of you agree.

[rhett o rick]

44. Probably, I am easily confused and let my frustrations get the best of me.

I seem to be apologizing about once a day now.

[sadbear]

3. David Brooks is pissed because he will never be as important as this.

[whatchamacallit]

5. Blithering ignorant asshole

Now watch his sentiments echoed ad nauseam by democrats on this board.

[Fumesucker]

6. Bobo Brooks?

He got his nose out of Republican ass long enough to write about Snowden?

[noise]

7. The circle of trust?

Has Brooks been tested lately for PED's? This is world class bullshit.

[Skittles]

8. "They limit debate a little more. "

WHAT DEBATE?

[BlueCheese]

9. David Brooks is almost like performance art.

Disclosing the existence of a deeply controversial secret program betrays the cause of open government. Ha ha ha.

Brooks also opens by noting that Snowden wasn't a very nice neighbor. Apparently this has something to do with something.

Quite an illustrious list of people who support the NSA's surveillance program. Ari Fleischer, John Yoo, Karl Rove, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, David Brooks, and the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

[boilerbabe]

10. of course! nt

[reformist2]

11. Brooks starts off by saying Snowden is the "ultimate unmedicated man," as if that's a bad thing.

Soma, anyone?

[Nay]

41. Actually, it's 'unmediated,' not 'unmedicated.' nt

[MrMickeysMom]

12. Oh,shut the fuck up...

I offer Snowden my support. Continue to suppose this system of corruption. We've had enough of it.

It's too bad this skull fuck hasn't a clue, now isn't it? If he'd stop for one second and realize that corporations can invade our privacy (pick up your smart phone and survey something, then get a thousand pings from related retailers trying to sell it to you. These entities who don't even exist as humans leak information to other entities - intra-governmental ones, so that PEOPLE can't make one move commerce or otherwise without corporations knowing it.

And, here come the "whistleblowers" who want to get Mr. and Mrs America to wake the fuck up.... THEY are the problem?

Please fuck yourself, David.

[Fawke Em]

31. Love you!

As I watch ads of shit I searched up.

This shit has to STOP.

Tor will be installed this weekend.

[freshwest]

14. Scorching article there. We need to define all of this. Thanks for posting it.

Strongly written, very clear.

[reformist2]

15. Looks like he took that "10 things you should know about Ed Snowden" article to heart! LOL

[rhett o rick]

16. Wake the hell up, this isnt about Snowden, it's about the domestic surveillance. It exists to

some extent and we need to know what's going on. Obviously our government wont tell us without whistle-blowers opening the door. Attacking the whistle-blowers doesnt clear the air. Something is going on in secret and we are being told to trust our government.
Well go ahead and trust our government, put your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and sing the Star Spangled F'in Banner, but just remember that in a few years someone you dont worship may hold the controls of this surveillance machine.

[BrotherIvan]

21. I don't even understand what he's saying it's so convoluted

He betrayed the cause of open government by leaking the fact that there are secret programs that are being used to collect privated data? Huh?

He betrayed the privacy of us all because if the government can't do a small intrusion they'll do an even bigger one? Huh??

He betrayed the Constitution, that meaningless piece of paper, because he decided to inform the citizenry of what its government was doing instead of letting it stay secret? HUH????

Serious question: what drugs is this guy on?

[Fumesucker]

22. Not drugs, partisanship

That will fuck your head up far worse than any drug.

Basically Brooks is a propagandist for the 1%.

Brooks always starts with his conclusion and writes the article in order to reach that conclusion, usually he's a bit more facile but this was a particularly difficult stretch so it's not up to his usual standards.

Note that ten DUers have recced this piece of blithering idiocy by a noted Republican apologist.

[BrotherIvan]

26. I don't doubt that some here feel the warmth in their cockles reading this

I've been asking BOrGers if they put their posts through Google Translate because I honestly cannot understand what they are writing. I've never seen so much convoluted thinking in my life. It's blowing my mind. They're really coming out of the dark shadows on this one.

[ReRe]

33. I just mentioned this fact....

... on another thread. If someone new comes through DU right now and reads this crap, they will get lost in about 2 minutes.

[kenny blankenship]

24. It passes over the threshold of literal doublethink and stays there most of the way through

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Secrecy is Informed Consent

[BrotherIvan]

27. All of the BOrGers constantly remind me of Winston's neighbor

who ends up be turned in by his own kids. It's helping me understand Jonestown though. Sheer fucking mass hysteria.

[Puzzledtraveller]

47. The look of disbelief never left his face

as it will not leave theirs once the implications of this intrusion implicate them.

[arely staircase]

35. china has free speech

you forgot that one

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. The lights have been turned on by Snowden and ugly things are coming out of the woodwork.

[SCVDem]

25. Outing Valerie Plame was not a big deal?

You have got to be shitting me!

All the casualties from phony wars and murdered intel assets don't count?

We have been wiretapped and spied on for a long time. This is nothing new. Just the scale.

[Hissyspit]

28. Ha, ha.

What a stupid column.

[xocet]

29. Sir, Authoritarian Follower Brooks reports as ordered! n/t

[Fawke Em]

30. David Brooks can kiss my ass.

Well, no, he can't. My ass is nice.

He can kiss my garbage can.

[avaistheone1]

32. I strongly disagree with David Brooks on all counts regarding Snowden.

[Abq_Sarah]

36. He betrayed the privacy of us all?

What? His argument is if the government can't spy on all of us... they will spy on all of us?

[Ford_Prefect]

37. The simple question is: Did Snowden tell the truth about NSA surveillance?

I think he did.

The rules he "broke" in so doing are still subject to a higher moral truth. Unlike some he was not "only following orders".

I think we cannot accept at face value the denials of those in power, regardless of party or office. If there was a truth to defend that would stand the light of day they would have presented it. Instead they tell us not to look at the men behind the curtain.

There are far too many precedents to this event to accept the excuse that we are better off not knowing how the secret world acts on our behalf and that we can trust it to behave responsibly without oversight.

I refer you to Senators Mark Udall and Ron Wyden: http://www.markudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3479


Too Many Secrets...

[ReRe]

38. I have never read such gobledee-gook in my life....

... that wasn't fit to print! Did I read the word conscience in that article anywhere? If so, it did not stick out at me. All I could see was David Brooks "view" of Snowden's mistake of NOT being blindingly loyal to an "oath" to the National Security State (NSS).

The reason we didn't see the word "conscience" is that David Brooks doesn't have one. To him, one's conscience is forfeited when you take the oath to the nether world of the NSS of our government. Without a conscience, you go about your business of doing the unconscionable, like it's factory work. Like a hit man. No conscience, no problem. Hey, you have a job! And a good paying one too.

But Edward Snowden goofed up bad. He let his conscience creep in and felt he just could not go on. And by God, he felt he needed to get it off his chest. It wasn't enough to just quit, walk away and keep his mouth shut. He might not have felt any loyalty to the NSS, but he did feel loyalty to the Constitution of the USA.

I've done allot of reading in my life and when he called Snowden "unmediated" in the first paragraph, I had to stop and look up the word. WTF does "mediate" mean. The definition of that word in my mind didn't match up with Brook's usage of it. Sounds faintly like a Union term. What I found in the old fashioned dictionary could barely match Brooks definition. Basically, his NYTimes editorial put-down of Snowden defined the word.

Oh yeah, and now since ES "betrayed the cause of open government", there will have to be even MORE secrecy. Really. I can't imagine MORE secrecy.

The closest Brooks gets to Snowden's "conscience" he calls "his own preferences" or his "moral dilemmas."

And the last paragraph is absolutely incomprehensible. This man needs to be taken away in a straight-jacket. He has left his mind.

I have never read such garbage in my life. Not even by David Brooks.
What. A. Prostitute. For the National Security State.

Thanks, jsr, for the OP. I had not heard of this editorial yet.

RANT OFF

[Ford_Prefect]

39. Amen.

In the words of Paul Simon:

I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest...

[ReRe]

40. Exactly... n/t

[Octafish]

42. Apart from Rev. Moon's secret friend?

George Herbert Walker Bush.

Know your BFEE: 1984 Death of Outstanding Congressional Staffer Buried Poppy-Moon Relationship

Why it refers to David Brooks:

David Brooks is a Moonie.

[n2doc]

45. Of course he is!

It's worse than sabotaging the Hanoi peace talks to extend the Vietnam war and win an election.

It's much worse than sabotaging the Iran hostage release negotiations to win an election.

It's worser than lying about a countries threat capability in order to launch a premeditated, pre-emptive war against them, killing tens of thousands and spending trillions.

It's certainly much worse than turning your back on your country to lead a rebel army against the USA, thus prolonging a conflict that took hundreds of thousands of lives.

It's even worse than selling out fellow spies for money, and seeing those spies killed by our enemies.

Yes it is!

[WillyT]

46. Oh Barf...