Month: June 2013

A Few Differences

Juan Cole runs down the Top 10 differences between the treatment of Edward Snowden and recently outed (suspected) Stuxnet leaker General James “Hoss” Cartwright:

  1. No one will obsess about the exercise habits of Gen. Cartwright’s wife.

  2. Gen. Cartwright will not be characterized as “a 63-year-old hacker.”

  3. Gen. Cartwright will not be described as “nerdy” or “flaky.”

  4. David Gregory will not ask that David Sanger be prosecuted for espionage because he aided and abetted Cartwright’s leaking.

  5. We won’t get stories every day about where in McLean, Virginia, Gen. Cartwright is living.

  6. Gen. Cartwright won’t be accused of being a spy for Iran.

  7. No lurid stories will be rehearsed on the Sunday afternoon shows about Cartwright’s allegedly overly familiar relationship with a young female aide in 2009, with heavy innuendo as to what the episode said about his reckless character.

  8. No FBI informants will be placed inside the elite Alfalfa Club in DC that Cartwright was known to attend.

  9. Cartwright’s loyalty to the United States won’t be impugned by anchors or congressmen.

  10. Dirt won’t be dug up on David Sanger’s private life in an attempt to discredit his reporting on Cartwright’s Stuxnet.

It’s not what is done. It is who does it that matters in Washington. Even past closeness to power covers a multitude of sins.

Yep. Read the whole thing

A Few Differences

…maybe part of the problem is we need to go back into the schools at a very early age, maybe at the grade school level, and have a class for the young girls and have a class for the young boys and say, ‘You know, this is what’s important. This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage.’

Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday. These are the views of the people that are holding the country hostage. And the hostages can’t seem to find a way of effectively countering any of it.
Source: maddowblog.msnbc.com

[Politico’s] Harris and VandeHei seem to lack very much curiosity for the world outside of the [Washington DC | Beltway] bubble. Harris claims it’s not worth his time to read 538, and VandeHei characterizes my work as “trying to use numbers to prove stuff”. Instead, what 538 is really about is providing a critical perspective, and scrutinizing claims on the basis of evidence (statistical or otherwise). In order to do that, you have to believe that there is some sort of truth outside the bubble – what would be called the “objective” world in a scientific or philosophical context. Politico, by contrast, sometimes seems to operate within a “post-truth” worldview. Some people think that is the very essence of savvy, modern journalism, but my bet is that journalism is headed in another direction – toward being more critical and empirical.

Nate Silver fairly destroys the Politico “brain trust.” Hope he’s right on that last point. I sorely doubt it.

Tangentially, I love that Harris, who is setting out to “revive long form journalism” on a Politico spinoff thinks the actual, hard facts and occasionally long-form journalism on 538 isn’t “worth his time.” Those two don’t just lack curiosity re: Outside the DC Bubble. As far as I can tell, they lack curiosity about actual information in all forms.

NSA Decoder Ring

An assortment of statements came out re: NSA surveillance programs. For your convenience, I’ve decoded them here.

Senator Dianne Feinstein: “The vast majority of the records in the database are never accessed and are deleted after a period of five years. To look at or use the content of a call, a court warrant must be obtained.”

DiFI decoded: “Why yes, we are accumulating every piece of information passing electronically through the United States, citizen originated or not. But, hey, we’re super careful about protecting that data. Sort of like your credit card company.”

Representative Loretta Sanchez: “What we learned in there is significantly more than what is out in the media today….I don’t know if there are other leaks, if there’s more information somewhere, if somebody else is going to step up, but I will tell you that I believe it’s the tip of the iceberg.”

Sanchez Decoded: “Why yes, we are accumulating every piece of information passing electronically through the United States, citizen originated or not. Hopefully this information doesn’t actually come out. Good thing the NSA is hiding it.”

General Keith B. Alexander: “We aren’t trying to hide it.”

General Alexander decoded: “We are totally trying to hide it. Please stop asking about this stuff and I’ll stop lying about it to you. Deal?”

If I thought censoring the mail was necessary, I would suggest it, but I don’t think it is.

Lindsey Graham, a supposedly freely elected leader of this country sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States, Senator from South Carolina. Breathtaking. This was said. In public, in America, in 2013. And Graham is generally considered a cool-headed moderate. The last vestiges of the old republic have been swept away.

The molecular cuisine has some good things about it, but I–I count my cooking by the looks of satisfaction on the faces of the people who have eaten my food. I don’t want them to be impressed; I want them to be pleased.

André Soltner, former chef of Lutèce, speaks the truth.