Give us Barabbas

I don't mean to diminish this. Commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence is well and good and long overdue.  But from the President who led a vicious and unprecedented "war on whistleblowers," it doesn't make a lot of sense. There must be something else going on here but it's beyond my pay grade to parse out what it might be.

Maybe it's as simple as throwing a bone out so they don't have to pardon Snowden. The White House's statement today attempted to draw a pointed contrast between the two.

Asked about the two clemency applications on Friday, the White House spokesman, Joshua Earnest, discussed the “pretty stark difference” between Ms. Manning’s case for mercy with Mr. Snowden’s. While their offenses were similar, he said, there were “some important differences.”

“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” he said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”

Ha ha, okay she said she's sorry.  That plus 7 years locked away in a dungeon and in and out of solitary confinement is all they wanted. A lot has been written about Manning's mental condidtion at the time of the leak. But putting aside questions of rationality, it's and act of remarkable bravery to have taken on something like this. Frankly, they should giver her Joe Biden's medal.

Notice also the other part of that statement reiterates and conflates Snowden's actions with the separate question of Russia's supposed "hacking" of the Presidential election.  It's a disturbing insinuation and is much more in line with the Obama Adminstration's dangerous and draconian hostility to government transparency, especially where it regards illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens.   After all, they wouldn't want anything getting out that might "undermine confidence in our democracy."

Update:  Like I said, this is beyond my pay grade.  Folks on the parallel internet point out the obvious, though. 

Wikileaks said its founder Julian Assange “will agree to U.S. extradition” if President Barack Obama commutes whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s jail sentence.

Taunting Snowden

I guess the lesson we're supposed to get from this bit is don't ever try to tell people the truth if it's likely they won't care or understand. 

Oliver insisted to Snowden that Americans care little about mass surveillance at home and have zero concerns about spying abroad.

"Americans do not give a shit about foreign surveillance," Oliver said.
"I think you're right," Snowden said.

Later on, Oliver dropped any pretense of humor and grilled Snowden on not having read all the documents he leaked to journalists. He then showed Snowden clips of Americans HBO interviewed who had no idea who Snowden was, or what he has done.

"Not ideal," Oliver said. "I guess on the plus side you might be able to go home because it seems like no one knows who the fuck you are or what the fuck you do."

Pretty sure that would be a flimsy defense, though. 

Technocratic Capitalism

The technological threat to privacy, and therefore freedom of thought itself, is bigger than just the question of whether or not the NSA is spying on you. Of course it's disturbing that the police are able to watch you as closely and perpetually as they are. But this is actually bigger than just that.

But what good are these steps to counter the much more disturbing trend whereby our personal information – rather than money – becomes the chief way in which we pay for services – and soon, perhaps, everyday objects – that we use?

No laws and tools will protect citizens who, inspired by the empowerment fairy tales of Silicon Valley, are rushing to become data entrepreneurs, always on the lookout for new, quicker, more profitable ways to monetise their own data – be it information about their shopping or copies of their genome. These citizens want tools for disclosing their data, not guarding it. Now that every piece of data, no matter how trivial, is also an asset in disguise, they just need to find the right buyer. Or the buyer might find them, offering to create a convenient service paid for by their data – which seems to be Google’s model with Gmail, its email service.

What eludes Mr Snowden – along with most of his detractors and supporters – is that we might be living through a transformation in how capitalism works, with personal data emerging as an alternative payment regime. The benefits to consumers are already obvious; the potential costs to citizens are not. As markets in personal information proliferate, so do the externalities – with democracy the main victim.

Pissing off the man

Most of us would expect "terrorism" to involve, roughly, a violent act against innocents, usually with some political motivation at end. But, really, it can mean any act that makes powerful people uncomfortable. Particularly when speech or press is involved.

 British Accuse David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's Partner, Of 'Terrorism'

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in "terrorism" when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents.

Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, was detained and questioned for nine hours by British authorities at Heathrow on Aug. 18, when he landed there from Berlin to change planes for a flight to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

See also:   Alabama Politics Blogger Jailed For Writings On Ex-Governor's Son

On Oct. 4, Riley asked a Shelby County court to hold the Shulers in contempt of court for violating a restraining order -- the court papers served by Lt. DeHart -- that directed them to "cease and desist immediately from publishing ... any defamatory statement about Petitioners, including, but not limited to, any statement that Petitioners had an extramarital affair." (Shuler appears to have represented himself in the case.) By Oct. 22, Shuler anticipated that he might wind up in jail, in a post accusing Riley of having a hand in the court orders issued in the case.

"Jay Murrill, an attorney at Riley's law firm who is representing his boss in the case, appears to have written an order to grant a preliminary injunction and seal the public file, plus an order to hold us in contempt," Shuler wrote. "If granted, the contempt order could subject us to incarceration."

And, of course: Orleans Parish Prison whistleblower who helped expose problems fears for his job

It was that apathy and lack of follow-up that prompted Collins to send NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune the photos of the bloody cell. He was on duty on June 6 when Edward Dean stabbed Brian Ellis. Dean was an inmate tier representative, a position that allowed him to enter Ellis' cell to serve food.


Collins described a weak investigation that didn't go anywhere until after Ellis' mother called. About a week later, Dean was rebooked into the jail on a charge of aggravated battery.


Gusman issued a statement at the time, saying Ellis' wounds were "superficial" and that he was transported to a local hospital "out of an abundance of caution."

On Thursday, Gusman stood behind those characterizations, saying the office "made full disclosure to the news media, the district attorney and all other interested parties" about the incident.


But despite that characterization, the district attorney's office charged Dean with a more serious felony, attempted murder, to which he pleaded guilty earlier this month.


Collins chafed at what he saw as another instance of the sheriff downplaying horrendous violence in the jail. So he sent NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune the photos.


The day after the photos were published, Collins said there was a roll call in which two high-ranking supervisors gave a chilling speech to the deputies. Collins' account was corroborated by another deputy who was present.


"The man is pissed," the supervisors reportedly told the guards. "We have a rat. Somebody is going to pay. You're going to learn that what happens here, stays here. When we catch this person, he will be arrested for malfeasance and go to jail. You're going to be left out on an island by yourself and no one's going to defend you. You will never get another job in law enforcement."

Not exactly sure what the litmus test is for labeling something terrorism, but asking whether or not "the man is pissed" is a pretty good place to start.

"Almost arrest"

Establishment press guy makes attempt at super-patriotic macho posturing, comes off sounding like a ninny anyway.

Snowden

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