The mechanics of character assassination is simple.

[sibelian]

Pick a target. Let's say it's a whistle-blower.

1. They're a "narcissist".
2. Every part of their personal life is therefore "fair game" because, being narcissists, they are secretly, "subconsciously" "inviting it".
3. Attention slooooooowly drifts....
4. They become mythological figures so stuffed with values and meaningless "analysis" that the significance of whatever they revealed becomes secondary to the myth. Discussion of the revelation starts to look like avoiding discussion of the myth rather than the other way round.

You can do it to anyone. Everyone's life looks weird when you put it on TV.

[clarice]

1. Very well said..it's an example of let's kill the messenger.nt

[Romulus Quirinus]

2. Humanity craves narrative, and narrative requires characters.

It appeals to our ancient instincts, this drive that gives us all the archetypical heroes and villains of legend. It is easy to subvert a difficult message and divert attention by feeding that desire. Much more so when that message is centred on difficult concepts and high technology, which is so much black magic to most people.

[arely staircase]

3. mr. snowden certainly made it about himself, intentionally or not

when he announced his identity and started giving interviews he became a public figure.

[Monkie]

5. he announced his identity to make it about the issue and not who/where/what is the leaker?

and it probably saved his family and friends a lot of trouble, it also insures his safety, there were children held without trial at GITMO, bin ladens cook/driver, how many innocent people?
"only in america" does the debate seem to be focusing on the person and not the issue.

[arely staircase]

7. how did announcing his identity make it about the issue?

I thought releasing the docs to greenwald did that.

[Monkie]

10. you did not notice the crescendo of news articles regarding who leaked and their motive??

maybe it is because i dont really comprehend this cult of personality thing, the media love it because they build someone up with stories, and then when he/she is not a perfect hero they get to destroy him/her in another orgy of articles.

also consider the concept that he may have saved many people from having their lives turned upside down in the search for the leak, many of whom would have had nothing to do with it.

[sibelian]

8. By which logic

You have made this entire thread about YOU by participating in it.

It only make sense to claim he has "made it about himself" if there is some way of going public with something WITHOUT making it about "yourself".

What should he have done to avoid the criticism?

Isn't it rather telling that you can point at ANYONE saying ANYTHING and claim "HE'S MAKING IT ABOUT HIMSELF!!!" ?

[arely staircase]

9. no i'm still anonymous,

and remaining so himself is how he could hve avoided the criticism.

[sibelian]

12. I cannot understand why his revealing his identity makes the content of his revelations about *him*.

Perhaps you can explain?

It would seem to me, also, that whether or not he has made the story "about him" isn't something we have to cooperate with.

The choice of what to focus on is ours. Not his.

[arely staircase]

13. well he just revealed his identity as a chinese intelligence agent, so this discussion is SO

20 minutes ago

the queston now is, how long has he been working for chinese intel?

[sibelian]

15. .... and the question of whether it's acceptable for the NSA to spy on Americans...

... fades away...

[railsback]

4. Apparently it works both ways

as Greenwald accuses everyone not agreeing with him as 'WH cronies'.

As with the IRS, DOJ and Benghazi, everyone is too quick to jump on the opposing bandwagons without gathering up all the facts, which continue to trickle out on a daily basis.

[uponit7771]

6. ^^ THIS ^^ is why I don't trust Greenwald!!

[xiamiam]

11. in the case of Toobin and his narcissist label of snowden..it backfired with me

Not that I watch msm but I did see that and I concluded that I will never believe a word that Toobin ever says again.

[arely staircase]

14. turns out "Chinese Spy" is more accurate than narcissist.

nt