The cyberattack target list story

Somewhat overshadowed by the news about the government sweeping up phone and internet communications has been the other whistleblower release of a secret directive by president Obama calling for agencies to draw up a list of targets for cyberattacks. Some responders have said that there is no news here. They say that of course the US targets other countries for such attacks and only the naïve would expect anything else. A variant of this argument is also given for the revelations about the government collecting phone and internet records. That is true but they need to be aware that when they argue this way, they have fallen victim to a specific propaganda strategy. [Read more…]

The Booz Allen connection

Edward Snowden worked for the security contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, this is a high-powered private agency that the government subcontracts much of its intelligence work to, often at much higher costs than it would have taken for the government to have its own in-house people doing the same work. It is the intelligence equivalent of military contractors that the state department hires as mercenaries (again at much higher cost) in its various wars and whose atrocious behavior in places like Iraq have done so much to poison the Iraqi people’s attitudes towards the US. [Read more…]

And on cue the attacks on Snowden begin …

Watch how Ed Kilgore, a supposedly ‘liberal’ news commentator who has been a Democratic party operative, contributes to the government counter-offensive to bringing down Snowden. See if you can count how many innuendos he packs into the short passage. He pretty much follows the expected script. Kilgore’s contribution is to call Snowden a narcissist.

It is a perfect example of innuendo and we can expect much more of this type of thing in the days to come, especially from Obama supporters.

Edward Snowden’s brilliant move

The decision by Edward Snowden to reveal himself as the whistleblower was a public relations masterstroke. Long time readers of this blog will recall that I have documented case after case (Iranian Airbus, London subway ‘bomber’, KAL 007, Clinton’s bombing of a milk factory) of how governments, when they are faced with a situation that is potentially damaging to their image, will rush out an initial story that makes them look good. In doing so they will have no compunction about shamelessly lying and distorting the facts. This is because they have realized a major truth about manipulating people: It is the first impression in the public’s mind that is important because that is what sticks. [Read more…]

Play it again, Fido

This is a dog that has clearly been carefully observing how the people in the house accompany themselves on the piano. I have no idea if Baxter the Wonder Dog does something similar when I am out of the house. In that case, it would mean sitting in my favorite chair and reading the books on the side table.

This is why we cannot have good government

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall has been agonizing over how to feel about the recent revelations of government snooping. Given that he is a Democratic (and Obama) supporter, he has been grasping at arguments that seek to portray it as not as bad as it looks. One of his readers sent in a comment that illustrates precisely how many people decide on what stance to take. [Read more…]

Good riddance to Gordon Gee

Gordon Gee, the recently resigned president of Ohio State University because of a series of intemperate remarks, symbolized the worst aspects of the corporatization of the university. He clearly saw himself in the CEO mold and was not shy about extracting the maximum personal salary, perks, and benefits for himself by jumping from job to job while universities in general are hiking fees on students and otherwise making higher education harder to achieve. [Read more…]

What next for same-sex marriage?

As people await rulings on the two same sex marriage cases before the US Supreme Court that are due to be released any day now, it is useful to see what the state of play is. It seems unlikely that the court will issue sweeping rulings affirming the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, though that would be a welcome surprise. Failing that, what lies ahead? [Read more…]