That links to a Guardian story with the far less ominous heading: "Edward Snowden: Russia offers to consider asylum request/Vladimir Putin's spokesman says any appeal for asylum from whistleblower who fled US will be looked at 'according to facts.'"
Drudge's attitude is shown by other links at the top right now.
Above Putin's image: "Democrats Love Gov't Surveillance -- As Long As It's Obama, Not Bush..." (which is about the same WaPo-Pew poll that we're talking about here).
At the top of the left-hand column is: "Plan B: In latenight announcement, Obama allows morning-after abortion pill for under-17s..." (which makes it look like Obama is trying to woo us over into women's issues), "UPDATE: Soldier Who Read Conservative Books Faces Charges..." (more political bias in the exercise of power), and "US Ambassador to Belgium 'Solicited Prostitutes, Including Minors': State Dept IG..." (the new scandal).
The middle column begins with 3 headlines about terrorism in airports, and then another story about political bias in the exercise of power: "Audio: IRS agent tells pro-life group: 'Keep your faith to yourself'..."
The right-hand column is devoted to the NSA story, pairing a Republican — "Boehner: NSA Leaker a 'Traitor'..." — with a Democrat — "AL FRANKEN: 'There Are Certain Things Appropriate For Me To Know That Is Not Appropriate For Bad Guys To Know'..."
Posts
41 comments:
As a Gen-X'r, the very concept of someone "defecting" from the United States to Russia is a somewhat difficult concept to wrap one's head around.
I'll just bet that old "Chekhist" would love to get his hands on him.
Wonder if Lyudmila needs a fella.
They still give issue-spotting finals in Con Law?
Putin makes a pretty good Bond villain.
He always did.
Remember "From Russia With Love"?
Hey, Professor! It looks like this whole Snowden thing may just be bogus! H/T [AoSHQ]
The only question now is: did the WaPo do this intentionally?
Or: Is the whole thing a straw man to make us sympathize with Obama?
I love Drudge. He says pretty much nothing himself. Once in a while there will be a Drudge written story but mostly he sticks to aggregating other stories.
But the way he does it, as you point out in your note, is little short of genius. The headlines he chooses and how he arranges them tell better stories than 95% of what we get from the sources he links.
John Henry
I feel bad about it, but I still can't take Al Franken seriously as an authority figure.
gerry said...
Hey, Professor! It looks like this whole Snowden thing may just be bogus! H/T [AoSHQ]
The only question now is: did the WaPo do this intentionally?
Or: Is the whole thing a straw man to make us sympathize with Obama?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the WaPo story was written independently of the Guardian story, which is dependent on Snowden.
Well, Gerry, a quick skim through, reading between the lines and corrections, they are changing the language to make people feel more reassured, but they could still be collecting gazillion communications from everyone out here.
But operators can, through the PRISM tech arrangements, still go in and get information without directly going through the actual companies' servers.
Apparently the legal stuff already being cleared.
Al Franken. Sad. The epitome of America in decline.
At least Boehner is keeping his eye on the ball.
Apparently, the Euros are taking this seriously and are very worried.
Uh oh, looks like Angie Merkel's gonna give Choom that spanking he's had coming for about 50 years.
IMHO the most outlandish (and most sicking) item of that group is the IRS audio. The leftist, statist, anti-christian mind-set on display is truly chilling as you just know that, like cockroaches, when you see one you know there are hundreds, if not thousands more like-minded leftist bureaucrats invisibly burrowed widely and deeply throughout the federal government in every agency.
"Audio: IRS agent tells pro-life group: 'Keep your faith to yourself'..."
That is actually how the left feels about religion.
1st Amendment?
Go to hell!
Man, this Snowden character is really coming off as a stand-up guy, isn't he?
Well, Gerry, a quick skim through, reading between the lines and corrections, they are changing the language to make people feel more reassured, but they could still be collecting gazillion communications from everyone out here.
And I agree, and no one more than I would like to see a smoking revelatory bomb (note to NSA analyst---that was a metaphor) that would blow up Obama's and Progressivism's fascist future, but what may be unravelling is Snowden's story. He may not be the key geek he asserts himself to be.
Uh oh, looks like Angie Merkel's gonna give Choom that spanking he's had coming for about 50 years.
Ah, to be spanked by a Valkyrie!
"I’m cold," Snowden said softly, "I’m cold."
"You’re going to be all right, kid," Yossarian reassured him with a grin. "You’re going to be all right."
"I’m cold," Snowden said again in a frail, childlike voice. "I’m cold."
"There, there," Yossarian said, because he did not know what else to say. "There, there."
"I’m cold," Snowden whimpered. "I’m cold."
"There, there. There, there."
I hear it's cold in Russia.
A quote from Ace, "Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, was an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. Snowden, who had a salary at the rate of $122,000, was terminated June 10, 2013 for violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy.".
So maybe he knew stuff, but didn't have the juice he claimed (and 120,000 is still pretty good money).
In the meantime, the Choom gang is doubling down on PRISM.
Is the whole thing a straw man to make us sympathize with Obama?
The only thing that would make me sympathize with Obama is if something bad were to happen to one of his daughters.
That's it.
Snowden at Urban Dictionary:
The radiogunner in Catch-22, a satirical WWII novel by Joseph Heller, who literally spills his secret all over Yossarian and the back of the plane during the first mission over Avignon.
After Yossarian learns this secret he is doomed to a life of ambiguous morals, anti-social behavior, and paranoia.
A little spot on, no?
Could Snowden also be charged with inciting something?
I just made up my mind, after reading that story about how people are planning to "jam" networks with fake information.
Snowden needs to be made an example of... how not to leak.
Amateur.
Does that mean Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning are the Snowdens of yesteryear?
More ways than one.
Every time I see that acronym PRISM it forces me to visualize an actual glass prism like the cover of Dark Side of the Moon. I just now bought a toy prism and gave it to a boy along with a gyroscope. His mum told me, her boy said, "What am I supposed to do with these?" But especially perplexed with the prism. She showed him what it does so he went around with a flashlight trying to make it work, then discovered how it refracts sunlight onto a wall, and that became his favorite thing, carrying it around all over the place in his pocket for days.
Why do people think any of this would make anyone have sympathy for Obama? He is a cold blooded fascist.
The solution is obvious: Villain holed up in Hong Kong? Call Batman.
No, Johnny English.
Is it cute or horrifying that Al Franken just assumes that we will all agree that "me" (meaning him, not me) and "bad guys" are disjoint sets?
You forget the year of, Me, Al Franken.
Apparently, he believed all that.
You forget the year of, Me, Al Franken.
Someone should tell him his 365 days are up.
Ideally, that "someone" would be the voters of MN.
Every time I see that acronym PRISM it forces me to visualize an actual glass prism
Same here, and I am tired of it. Something about picturing a transparent thing with angles gives me a slight headache. So I've had enough of seeing that word.
(Though not enough of an actual prism. We have one, and it is well loved.)
I'm also tired of it because it seems like the IRS scandal should be getting this attention instead.
Chip S. said...
"Ideally, that "someone" would be the voters of MN."
Amen to that. What's wrong with Minnesota?
If he was based in Hawaii, his salary makes some sense. Honolulu is one of the most expensive American cities in which to live—apparently the cost of living is 67% above average.
I'm back in the USSR...
I'm also tired of it because it seems like the IRS scandal should be getting this attention instead.
Freeman!
According to a more precise description contained in a classified NSA inspector general’s report, also obtained by The Post, PRISM allows “collection managers [to send] content tasking instructions directly to equipment installed at company-controlled locations,” rather than directly to company servers. The companies cannot see the queries that are sent from the NSA to the systems installed on their premises, according to sources familiar with the PRISM process. [emphasis added]
So is there a difference in the information? And no, the companies don't know what it is that is being gathered... that process (the legal side) is already covered?
I'm not sure what I really think about this whole business except it apparently is a miserable failure because it does not profile (with "probable cause?") the people that are out to kill us. (Think Boston Think NIDAL HASAN!!!)
It's not that Franken's a Democrat, it's that he's a clown. When he issues a pompous statement about how only he is to be trusted with delicate and weighty issues, the rest of us remember he's a guy who makes penis jokes and smirks for yuks on entertainment TV, whose expertise and character best qualify him to be the life of a drunken stag party. Heard any good ones, Al? Tell us again the six ways a beer is better than a woman. Ha ha ha ha ha!
So what Drudge is really doing is pointing out the absurdity of the national security theater. He's setting it up so that when Obama is allowed to be clear, or when General Sir Most Puissant Lord Lady Astor's Horse Hayden issues somber pronunciamentos about Very Serious Concerns -- you're put immediately in mind of the circus clown car in Dumbo. Laughter is the worst possible public reaction for the statists.
Post a Comment