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Glenn Greenwald Tag

With each passing day, more and more videos capture Joe Biden on the campaign trail making what are more than the gaffes for which he is famous. Biden forgets or struggles to remember names, events and people as he speaks, and jumbles words. Biden should not be laughed at for this. My overwhelming feeling for Joe is one of sadness, that he was pushed into something for which he is not prepared. And it's only going to get worse.

Bill Maher has been on a free speech tear lately, and if you look back at the last few months it makes perfect sense. In December of 2014 he was booked to speak at UC-Berkeley's commencement; but liberal students who disagreed with his views on Islam and free speech tried to shut him down. Of course, Professor Jacobson predicted all of this. Maher ultimately spoke at Berkeley---and used the opportunity to bash Republicans. Even so, you have to admire Maher's recent strong defense of free speech. Here's a clip from his Friday show where he took liberals to task on political correctness over Islam. He even takes a poke at the "Stop Rush" crowd. (NSFW for language) Josh Feldman of Mediaite does a great job outlining the segment:

Now I come to praise Elizabeth Warren. Warren long has made sense when it comes to the Middle East, in her strong support of Israel and her understanding of the neighborhood in which Israel lives. Whatever her other positions, we should at least acknowledge when she is right. And she did so again the other day:
But when the man in the green Hawaiian shirt stood up, Warren went from voicing her support for those local causes to defending her vote to send $225 million to Israel in its ongoing conflict with Hamas. "We are disagreeing with Israel using their guns against innocents. It's true in Ferguson, Missouri, and it's true in Israel," said Harwich resident John Bangert, who identified himself as a Warren supporter but said the $225 million could have been spent on infrastructure or helping immigrants fleeing Central America. "The vote was wrong, I believe," he added, drawing applause from several in the crowd. Warren told Bangert she appreciated his comments, but "we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one." "I think the vote was right, and I'll tell you why I think the vote was right," she said. "America has a very special relationship with Israel. Israel lives in a very dangerous part of the world, and a part of the world where there aren't many liberal democracies and democracies that are controlled by the rule of law. And we very much need an ally in that part of the world." Warren said Hamas has attacked Israel "indiscriminately," but with the Iron Dome defense system, the missiles have "not had the terrorist effect Hamas hoped for." When pressed by another member of the crowd about civilian casualties from Israel's attacks, Warren said she believes those casualties are the "last thing Israel wants." "But when Hamas puts its rocket launchers next to hospitals, next to schools, they're using their civilian population to protect their military assets. And I believe Israel has a right, at that point, to defend itself," Warren said, drawing applause. Noreen Thompsen, of Eastham, proposed that Israel should be prevented from building any more settlements as a condition of future U.S. funding, but Warren said, "I think there's a question of whether we should go that far."
For that perfectly logical and appropriate statement, Warren incurred the wrath of Glenn Greenwald.  

Glenn Greenwald's book on Edward Snowden and the NSA is apparently headed for the big screen. From the Hollywood Reporter:
Sony Pictures Entertainment has optioned film rights to Glenn Greenwald’s No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State. The book by Greenwald, whose reporting on the revelations contained in Snowden’s top-secret NSA documents won the Pulitzer Prize for The Guardian newspaper this year, was published May 13. James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions will produce the politically themed drama that is expected to be in the vein of other Sony true story films like The Social Network and Captain Phillips. Greenwald's highly anticipated book examines the journalist's personal involvement in working with Snowden to break numerous stories about the U.S. government's intelligence-gathering operations. The book is both a personal narrative of the events as they unfolded and a historical reflection on the broader implications of the NSA's activities. Greenwald and his family have been harassed throughout the process of bringing Snowden's story to the public.
Greenwald’s book, released this week, covers in part some of the background on his dealings with the former NSA contractor, according to the NY Times.

Journalist market bubble already showing signs of bursting?...

Was Edward Snowden just protecting the privacy -- of Russian and Chinese intelligence services?...

This segment between Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post (my law school classmate) and Glenn Greenwald on Edward Snowden is pretty good. It's being described as Greenwald being rude to Marcus, but I don't see it that way. I think they both did a good job. ...

I've had my disagreements with Glenn Greenwald as to the term Israel Firsters and the Snowden damage to our foreign intelligence operations, but this is pretty funny. Via Mediaite, Greenwald Snarks at MSNBC: I Defend Snowden Like You Defend Obama ’24 Hours a Day’ (h/t...

I think the Brazilian President is not so much upset that we spy, but that we spy better than her spies spy....

The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has since early June been reporting on leaked documents obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, told a Brazilian television program Sunday that the NSA read emails of the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico. From NBC News: Glenn Greenwald told Globo...

The Guardian has added another partner to its reporting collaboration on the NSA files leaked by Edward Snowden.  Investigative reporting outfit ProPublica confirmed that it has been quietly working with The Guardian on a story on the subject and has recently joined with the New...

NSA leaker Edward Snowden - speaking through The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald - has now alleged that the UK government intentionally leaked information to the media with the purpose of justifying the government's claim that Snowden's leaked documents could present a danger to the public’s safety...

Just as the NSA-Snowden leak story was being broken by The Guardian via Glenn Greenwald, and to a lesser extent at The Washington Post, I thought about writing a post with the title this post bears.  In the crush of other things, and the uncertainty as...