"I wonder how many have truly understood The Absolute Threat"

[kpete]

Alan Rushbridger, editor of the Guardian, wrote this:

The state that is building such a formidable apparatus of surveillance will do its best to prevent journalists from reporting on it. Most journalists can see that. But I wonder how many have truly understood the absolute threat to journalism implicit in the idea of total surveillance, when or if it comes -- and, increasingly, it looks like "when".

from here, more:
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/08/snowden-wars-episode-v-surveillance-state-strikes-back

[snooper2]

1. "total surveillance"

Be nice if Alan would take the time to expand on what "total surveillance" is comprised of.


Does he have something like this scene in his head?

[snappyturtle]

30. Watched this for free on Youtube this afternoon and am amazed

at how pertinent it is today! I've seen it before...but NOW...wow!
Thanks for posting the clip..

[Little Star]

2. Thanks Kpete! k&r Plus I found the end of the piece pure truth telling.....

I don't know how this turns out any more than you do. In the end, maybe the centrifugal forces of the internet really will win the day. After all, as Rusbridger pointed out to the GCHQ folks, destroying a few hard drives in London didn't make the slightest difference to the Guardian's ability to report the Snowden story.

On the other hand, Snowden himself is bottled up in Russia. Julian Assange is trapped like a rat in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Wikileaks has been crippled by concerted international sanctions. Bradley Manning will spend the rest of his life in jail. And even the thickest-skinned journalists will think twice before tackling sensitive subjects now that they know their spouses, family, and friends are considered fair game for harassment by any sufficiently annoyed security agency. If even the president of Bolivia can't escape harassment, what chance do you have?

[Aerows]

3. Agreed! n/t

[East Coast Pirate]

4. Yep.

So glad our liberal president is against this.

[NoMoreWarNow]

13. let's not forget the murder of Michael Hastings

I suspect that was part and parcel of this whole intimidation ploy.

[Hydra]

14. It totally was

And it was directed at a specific group of people. The rest of us were supposed to forget about it.

[NoMoreWarNow]

27. forget about it, indeed

and their plan seems to be working for the most part.

[Hydra]

28. I admit it wasn't in the front of my mind in this

And it probably should have been. He was killed to silence him and send a message to others, not unlike how Greenwald's partner was detained and threatened.

It's all related. They bank on us not seeing all of it as a whole pattern.

[snappyturtle]

23. Just came here to paste that....somehow I missed this OP

entirely! Glad to have found it as I think it makes a case to those
who think we protest too much.....time will tell.

[stupidicus]

5. I say most not an apologist

it doesn't really take genius to figure out what the many ramifications of TS can be.

I'd say the goal is obviously approximating as closely as possible, total control in deed if not thought.

Welcome to the beehive

[Cryptoad]

6. Big Q

Can Terrorism be conducted in Journalism Clothing?

[Katashi_itto]

8. Can Terrorism be conducted in Journalism Clothing, a Priest's collar, a blogger? Lets investigate

everyone. Since it's all just a slippery slope...

[Cryptoad]

9. Thank you

for illustrating the Question and the Answer

[Hydra]

15. Oh look, I totally called it!

Journalism = Terrorism when it's not state approved.

But isn't that the essence of "Terrorism"? Any act or belief not sanctioned by the Gov't?

[Cryptoad]

17. Still unable to answer the Q? nt

[Hydra]

18. You didn't submit a question

You posted a talking point that I predicted.

Also, I already answered you. Who is defining the word "Terror"? If it's just one government's opinion, why would it matter? We laugh when Putin puts people like Pussy Riot in jail rather than agreeing that they are a threat to society.

Why should it be different if it's the US is doing it? I laugh when they claim to have killed "The #2 Al-Qaeda _____."

[CrispyQ]

7. Well worth the few minutes to read.

~kick

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. Funny how all the usual suspects are already falling in line.

[midnight]

11. Some said the NDAA was the absolute threat.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/citizen-journalists-activists-speak-out-against-ndaa/38672/

[JDPriestly]

21. The NDAA combined with the total surveillance of metadata - horrible.

[snappyturtle]

24. YES! I mention the NDAA and the total surveillance of metadata

to people I talk with, and it's like talking to the carpet! They
don't have a clue about any of this!!?? THAT scares me.

[blackspade]

12. K&R.

[hfojvt]

16. given much of the CRAP that passes for journalism these days

and I include the latest issue of Mother Jones in that crap, unfortunately, Drums article on austerity includes a fair amount of ridiculous nonsense passing as "populist economics". (example - "the desperately needed" accursed payroll tax cut that Drum mourns the expiration of).

I am not sure why we are supposed to be worried about "journalism".

Where the hell has this guy been? Most "journalism" got bought up over twenty years ago and is a bane to the existence of ordinary society.

[Maedhros]

20. "I am not sure why we are supposed to be worried about journalism"

This is a stunning admission on your part. A healthy, free press is absolutely necessary for a functioning democracy.

Your answer to a sick and dying free press is to neglect it further? That will not solve the problem.

[Little Star]

25. [phone]

[hfojvt]

26. again, we have not had a "healthy, free press" for decades

The question is whether I am gonna get all excited somehow about the loss of crap like Fox News, The NY Times, the WaPo, MSNBC, CBS News.

Those places are not part of a "healthy, free press" they are part of corporate propaganda. They are junk. They are rot. So I am not cry if they die. Maybe the death of those corrupt and rotten old institutions will allow something new and vibrant to grow from their ashes. Fighting to save the rot, is not gonna suddenly make it healthy and vibrant.

Even the left wing press does not seem much better to me. In the last year, I have quit my subscriptions to Mother Jones, The Nation, and The Progressive, because they struck me as useless at best.

I too, like journalism in theory, but not so much in actual practice.

[cantbeserious]

19. Kick And Recommend

eom

[idwiyo]

22. K&R

[rhett o rick]

29. The Authoritarians among us dont care. They have chosen a leader and they

will follow him off the cliff. Life is so much easier or should I say bliss.