Edward Snowden has had a significant and unquestioned impact on how we view the role of national security in our lives. While I don’t agree with his specific actions, I do agree with why he did them. But I have come to the conclusion that Edward Snowden’s entire message is being muted to a large degree by the personality of one Glenn Greenwald.
It’s not normal for me to take time to write a blog post that personally attacks someone strictly for their style. My range of tolerance of the individual is wide, but I just don’t like people who are down right mean to others, and that certainly describes Glenn Greenwald, the so-called journalist that Mr. Snowden seems to have picked to carry his message and distribute some of the NSA documents he has.
I can see why The Guardian UK elected to part company with Mr. Greenwald: his pretentious way and willingness to dismiss and put down others at the drop of a hat, gives one the desire to disagree with him just because he pisses them off.
Take this exchange on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, where Greenwald and Veterans of America founder Paul Rieckhoff were guests:
Paul Rieckhoff: “There’s a larger debate here if Snowden did release these documents and we find out it does perform a service, at the same time he’s still hiding in Russia. I mean, it would be a different story if he came back, and made his case, and faced the music.”
Glenn Greenwald” “That is total bullshit. Let me just say this. Why would Edward Snowden want to come back to the United States, a country that has a systematic attack on whistleblowers?”
It’s truly grating when you watch it on video:
What’s more grating are the legions of Internet trolls who applaud when Greenwald goes into ass-hole mode. Note, it’s not that I disagree with him, but I’m totally sick and tired of Glenn’s act. It really harms Edward Snowden’s message.
Moreover, you don’t make change by being an asshole 200 percent of the time, because the enemies you gather aren’t there because they disagree with your message, it’s because they dislike you.
Good for Paul Rieckhoff to try and have drinks with Glenn afterward; I’d have not wasted my time with him. Look:
Fun having a spirited debate with @ggreenwald tonight on #RealTimeHBO. I respect his passion. And after the show, we had a drink together.
— Paul (PJ) Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) June 21, 2014
So where Paul think’s he’s got a friend, Greenwald has to show how immature he is and flame him:
Do I have any evidence that your reporting has killed people? No. But that won’t stop me from insinuating that it happened.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 21, 2014
Can you definitively prove that your last tweet didn’t result in the deaths of CIA agents?
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 21, 2014
And on that note, it stretches the imagination to think that Snowden’s leaks haven’t had an impact on, say, how Russia deals with the United States. Maybe no one of our agents have been killed, but first, how would we know? Second, it’s hard to argue that the climate for that to happen has certainly developed.
Glenn needs to tone down his rhetoric and find a place where he can make his case without being immature. Already, there are posts totally devoted to the observation that he’s an asshole. For example, Chez Pazienza over at The Daily Banter was totally outraged that Greenwald not only refused to say or tweet anything in support of the effort to stop the harm of Nigerian girls, he actually pooed on the idea that Western feminists should get involved:
@roqchams The ability to ignore virtually all history when advocating for The Next Western Intervention is as impressive as it is horrifying
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 7, 2014
What’s so stupid about that tweet is Glenn himself is advocating for a Western intervention into its own intelligence gathering system. He can do that, but he can’t stand for Nigerian girls. Maybe those who claim he’s racist, blind to sexism, and promoting anti-government zealots (if you think about it, the perfect cocktail to produce someone who would want to do harm to America’s first black President), are right after all.
Whatever the case, I’m tired ot Glenn Greenwald. It’s not to dismiss Edward Snowden, but Glenn’s not doing him any favors. Snowden needs someone who’s nice, smart, and politically savvy – Glenn is not any one of those. A truly intelligent person knows how to navigate society and not piss off people when they’re already faced with a sensitive subject.
Stay tuned.
Glenn’s at that point where I’m tuning him out.