Making Greenwald's point for him

[Mass]

I want to post this because David Atkins reflects exactly my views. I am not passioned by the NSA story because there are things I care a lot more about, but arresting Miranda is a bridge too far. The Cameron govt made the point for Greenwald and those who try to find a rational for it do as well.

Now, some will tell us it is not the Obama administration, but, by their own admission, they knew it was going to happen. They detained him for 9 hours and found nothing. I do not know whether it is stupidity or retaliation, but it definitively is counterproductive.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/making-greenwalds-point-for-him-by.html

Making Greenwald's point for him

by David Atkins

I'm admittedly less concerned about civil liberties issues than I am about broader economics and climate change, and my view of civil liberties issues tend to be tinged with the idea that there should be a system in place whereby exposure of government overreach can happen without legally endangering whistleblowers. I also take an extremely dim view of libertarianism.

...


I've had my issues with Greenwald. But I don't care if you believe that Greenwald and Snowden are the embodiments of the Anti-Christ. I don't care what documents Greenwald's spouse was carrying, how classified they were, or whether you believe that Greenwald is a journalist. I don't care.

When a government detains someone who is very clearly not a terrorist for nine hours without access to an attorney under a terrorism statute, that government has proven every point Greenwald wanted to make. The argument is over right there.

And every "progressive" with a beef against Greenwald who attempts to defend the UK's actions does nothing more than prove Greenwald's point. Governments that detain civil libertarian bloggers and journalists as terrorists deserve every heaping of scorn they get, as do those who defend them.