The Patriot Act was signed on October 26, 2001 and this is what Glenn Greenwald wrote in the preface to his own book – his words, not mine…(emphasis IS mine)
This is not to say that I was not angry about the attacks. I believed that Islamic extremism posed a serious threat to the country, and I wanted an aggressive response from our government. I was ready to stand behind President Bush and I wanted him to exact vengeance on the perpetrators and find ways to decrease the likelihood of future attacks. During the following two weeks, my confidence in the Bush administration grew as the president gave a series of serious, substantive, coherent, and eloquent speeches that struck the right balance between aggression and restraint. And I was fully supportive of both the president’s ultimatum to the Taliban and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan when our demands were not met. Well into 2002, the president’s approval ratings remained in the high 60 percent range, or even above 70 percent, and I was among those who strongly approved of his performance. […]
During the lead-up to the invasion, I was concerned that the hell-bent focus on invading Iraq was being driven by agendas and strategic objectives that had nothing to do with terrorism or the 9/11 attacks. The overt rationale for the invasion was exceedingly weak, particularly given that it would lead to an open-ended, incalculably costly, and intensely risky preemptive war. Around the same time, it was revealed that an invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein had been high on the agenda of various senior administration officials long before September 11. Despite these doubts, concerns, and grounds for ambivalence, I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush administration. Between the president’s performance in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the swift removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the fact that I wanted the president to succeed, because my loyalty is to my country and he was the leader of my country, I still gave the administration the benefit of the doubt. I believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgment deferred to, and to the extent that I was able to develop a definitive view, I accepted his judgment that American security really would be enhanced by the invasion of this sovereign country.
While I was screaming at my TV and marching in the streets in protest of the Patriot Act, the Afghanistan War and later the Iraq War, Glenn Greenwald “was ready to stand behind President Bush” and wanted to “exact VENGEANCE on the perpetrators.” And he “believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgement deferred to”, which of course included the passage of The Patriot Act on October 26, 2001.
So yeah, Glenn Greenwald, why exactly should I listen to him now?
Extreme Liberal's Blog 
I listen to Glenn Greenwald for the same reason I listen to a former smoker on the dangers of tobacco. Whatever mistakes he made ten years ago, he is usually on the mark now.
I would suggest you look a little deeper into his claims, links and judgement. He wasn’t a kid 10 years ago when he said all that stuff. A full grown adult with incredibly bad judgement, and I don’t think he has grown any, just found a new way to make money. He’s a grifter, trading in outrage.
Greenwald is a RatFucker. He pretends to be a Liberal but is a Low Taxes Now! Libertarian. Bush got a pass for a Million killed in Iraq because he lowered Glenn’s taxes.
Looks like Glenn was much more supportive of President Bush than he has been of President Obama, the latter whom he relishes disparaging most every day. Yeah, a real “progressive” who must be hoping for an even greater take-over of Congress by the Republicans in 2014 to make Obama’s job even harder. Who needs McConnell and Boehner/Cantor to bring President Obama to his knees when we have “liberals” like Greenwald doing some of the dirty work.
Did you read beyond the preface of the book? Nice swift boating, “extreme
loyalistliberal”.It took me about 2 minutes to conclude that Greenwald was in it for the money. He’ll say whatever will bring him a bigger paycheck.
Yeah, a few paragraphs down from the above quoted passage: (emphasis IS mine)
Even when the other checks on our government fail, citizens always have the ability to take a stand for their country. For that to happen, the first requirement is that Americans be fully informed of the objective facts regarding just how radical and extreme our government has become under George W. Bush, and the sweeping, genuinely un-American powers that one man has claimedI began my blog to provide those facts and to take a stand in defense of our nation’s founding principles. That is also why I’ve written the book you now hold in your hands.
Definitely! The man loves Bush because he lowered his taxes.
Do you protest the patriotic act now that Obama is POTUS.
I do want the Patriot Act to be repealed, but I accepted a long time ago that the days of privacy are pretty much over. I wish we lived in a world that was less intrusive, but technology has taken over…at least in developed countries. It’s only going to get worse too. We need to elect good leaders, who appoint good people as judges and maybe we can return to a more respectable society.
It is not government but private businesses and organizations that know most about us, from what product brands we research/buy online, what religious and political groups we tend to favor, etc. I long ago came to the conclusion that I am never “anonymous” when I enter the world-wide web.
According to the New York Times coverage, They (Tech Companies) opened discussions with national security officials about developing technical methods to more efficiently and securely share the personal data of foreign users in response to lawful government requests.
And,
The companies said they do, however, comply with individual court orders, including under FISA
But, Greenwald’s goal isn’t to be fair but to seem fair and complain only when a Democratic Presidency can be called to account.
Remember despite his lies today Glenn supported the Afghan and Iraq Wars.
Wouldn’t it have been a good thing that if our government had had better information from Russian sources that such a program might have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings? I am glad we didn’t have traitors like Greenwald around during WWII or we might all be speaking Japanese or German today. Maybe I am less concerned about the government keeping some secrets because as a child of the 1930’s, I grew up in the era of “Loose lips sink ships”.
James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence says, ” The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation.
The [Greenwald Guardian] article omits key information regarding how a classified intelligence collection program is used to prevent terrorist attacks and the numerous safeguards that protect privacy and civil liberties (like many in Congress from both political parties have been privy to the classified information)….
Discussing programs like this publicly will have an impact on the behavior of our adversaries and make it more difficult for us to understand their intentions. Surveillance programs like this one are consistently subject to safeguards that are designed to strike the appropriate balance between national security interests and civil liberties and privacy concerns. I believe it is important to address the misleading impression left by the [Guardian] article and to reassure the American people that the Intelligence Community is committed to respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all American citizens.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/304085-dni-statement-on-recent-unauthorized-disclosures-of-classified-information-#ixzz2VewnwDaS
Clapper continued to criticize the news media today for what he called a “rush to publish” information based on “reckless” leaks about the government surveillance tool PRISM.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/dni-james-clapper-guardian-washington-post-leaks-prism-92446.html#ixzz2Vez6VIJe
Very selective quote mining there. Funny how you missed out the following sections, but then again they would ahve demolished your ‘argument’ –
“I had great faith in the stability and resilience of the constitutional republic that the founders created. All that has changed. Completely. Over the past five years, a creeping extremism has taken hold of our federal government, and it is threatening to radically alter our system of government and who we are as a nation. This extremism is neither conservative nor liberal in nature, but is instead driven by theories of unlimited presidential power that are wholly alien, and antithetical, to the core political values that have governed this country since its founding.
And the fact that this seizure of ever-expanding presidential power is largely justified through endless, rank fear-mongering—fear of terrorists, specifically—means that not only our system of government is radically changing, but so, too, are our national character, our national identity, and what it means to be American. ”
“I genuinely believe that we are extremely lucky to be the beneficiaries of a system of government that uniquely protects our individual liberties and allows us a life free of tyranny and oppression. It is incumbent upon all Americans who believe in that system, bequeathed to us by the founders, to defend it when it is under assault and in jeopardy. And today it is.”
“It appeared that in the great national unity the September 11 attacks had engendered, the administration had seen not a historically unique opportunity to renew a sense of national identity and cohesion, but instead a potent political weapon with which to impose upon our citizens a whole series of policies and programs that had nothing to do with terrorism, but that could be rationalized through an appeal to the nation’s fear of further terrorist attacks.”
Doesn’t seem to be that much of a supporter to me.
Don’t worry you can go back to protesting the govt. in a few years time when the baton of the presidency is handed from the left hand of the corporatocracy to the right hand and you can stop twisting yourself to support the democrats.
Except that In reference to his initially favorable opinions of Bush (so much so that he supported the Iraq War two years into the first term), he says “All that has changed.” Well, in order for something to change, something must have been different, correct? And what was different… well… Glenn stood around in a mindless stupor quietly cheering Bush who was busy royally screwing up the country. And when the horses, pigs, sheep, goats, hay, tractors and actual wood from the barn had been stolen, that’s when Glenn decided to help close the gate. Fat lotta good his kind of people did us.
So no matter how you try to deflect from his clear support of Bush and Cheney, the fact remains that he’s one of the reasons they got away with what they did. Apathy kills.
Although in Glenn’s case, I must say after years of engaging his smears, distortions and lies, I don’t think he’s changed at all. Like always, he’s vile and goes where the money is. All one has to do is look back to what he was doing before he was a blogger, as in being a lawyer who attacked hate-crime victims and their civil rights lawyers as “odious and repugnant,” … while defending a neo-Nazi.
http://bit.ly/IoiwJZ
And while working that case, he illegally wiretapped witnesses.
http://bit.ly/JkuzIz
And after his alleged conversion (“All that has changed”) when he began blogging? Well, he tackled immigration issues with thoughtful, restrained prose such as this:
“Over the past several years, illegal immigrants have poured into the United States by the millions. The wave of illegals entering the country is steadily increasing. The people living in the border states of California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico know this flow has to be drastically slowed and then halted. The situation is so dire in that region that the Democratic Governors of Arizona and New Mexico were forced to declare States of Emergency as a result of the flow of illegals into their states and the resulting, massive problems which it brings.
The parade of evils caused by illegal immigration is widely known, and it gets worse every day. In short, illegal immigration wreaks havoc economically, socially, and culturally; makes a mockery of the rule of law; and is disgraceful just on basic fairness grounds alone. Few people dispute this, and yet nothing is done.”
http://bit.ly/MsgB4X
“Intellectually lazy and smug people love to casually throw insults like “racist” around because it saves them the trouble of addressing the substance of an idea with which they disagree, and because it makes them feel so very superior and enlightened. For an example of a wild orgy of such cheap, self-praising smugness, check out the dismissive name-calling directed at Tancredo in the comments section of the Drum post which prompted Willis’ outburst.”
….
“Current illegal immigration – whereby unmanageably endless hordes of people pour over the border in numbers far too large to assimilate, and who consequently have no need, motivation or ability to assimilate – renders impossible the preservation of any national identity. That is so for reasons having nothing whatever to do with the skin color or origin of the immigrants and everything to do with the fact that what we end up with are segregated groups of people with allegiences to their enclaves, an inability to communicate, cultural perspectives incompatible with prevailing American culture, and absolutely nothing to bind them in any way to what we know as the United States.”
http://bit.ly/XsJxEY
Yup. That’s what he was writing after supposedly seeing the light. Make of it what you will, but quit trying to distract from his awful record.
Glenn now needs us to send him our hard-earned money….
http://fundraisergg.blogspot.com.br/2013/06/reader-donations-information.html
How about because people can change their minds, because punishing them for that won’t encourage it, and because “consider the source” is a logical fallacy?
White apologists made excuse after excuse for President Obama’s over reaches. This time the scandal has come home to roost and it’s difficult for anyone to make excuses this time.
You are exactly right, Glenn Greenwald supported President Bush and Dick Cheney as they implemented these programs that are now coming home to roost on top of his flat head. I know it’s fashionable to ignore reality and history and blame the sitting President for all that came before him, but it’s intellectually dishonest. But in our current world, no one gives a shit about being intellectually honest. It breeds people like Greenwald who has raised the art of hyperbole out of the stratosphere.
The extreme narcissist Greenwald bragged yesterday that he has MORE classified information to be released. Our national security be damned. Rachel Maddow last evening described Greenwald, whom she acknowledged was often a guest on her show, as being ELOQUENT. One definition of eloquence is appropriate expression, Greenwald has the support of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz on the libertarian right and the likes of Michael Moore and Maddow on the left. Strange bedfellows.
So, you were “marching in the streets in protest of the Patriot Act”. So will you be marching in the streets to protest what the Patriot Act has brought about – NSA Prism. Methinks not somehow.
So, presumably because it’s bad, you’ll be protesting against what the NSA has been up to, right? Of course, you won’t because you’re a hypocrite. You Reps and Dems are all the same – support your guy, hate the other guy. It’s pathetic.
Well, unfortunately I’ve had to accept that it has been the law for over a decade and it looks like it isn’t going away anytime soon. If I thought there was a chance to repeal it, hell yes I’d be in the streets. But standing in the streets yelling for no good reason is a waste of time.
Haha, a real person of principle.
The biggest complaint against the initial Patriot Act under Bush/Cheney was it providing for WARRANTLESS wire taps which since has been corrected at the NSA. Just went to a hotel booking site yesterday to research room rates for a future trip and already getting my sidebars on Yahoo, Facebook filling up with ads for various hotels in that city. My favorite cereal is Cheerios and today on a Facebook sidebar have an ad plus a coupon for Cheerios. Must have commented once upon a time how I love Cheerios! Gee, somebody is reading my emails! So if PRIVATE corporations can make megabucks off advertising targeting my buying habits, I could care less about my government analyzing my phone calls/having access to my computer.
Your continued misrepresentations of Greenwald are outrageous. The entire point of that book’s preface (which you seem not to realize is attached to a book length criticism of the Bush administration) is to demonstrate that Greenwald was politically apathetic and deferential to executive power prior to his political awakening. The reason you are aware of the preface is he often mentions it when discussing the dangers of trusting political leadership.
LOL…..yep, yep. I print his own words and I’m “misrepresenting” him. I’m really glad he had a conversion, if he actually did, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that he was stupid enough to believe all that shit to begin with. He wasn’t a punk kid either, he was in his mid 30’s when he wrote that so he can’t really claim immaturity…at least with a straight face.
Fox News is where the money is. Whatever you want to say about Greenwald, he believes what he says.
LOL
Are you calling attention to Greenwald’s past positions because you can’t refute his argument on the merits?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque
Greenwald is a stunted, twisted, lying incurious waste of human skin.
I’m a progressive liberal who voted for Obama twice. These leaks reveal that Obama went against what he campaigned for. If you are criticizing Greenwald even after changing his mind about George W. Bush in 2005-6, then you should also have the intellectual honesty to criticize Obama for expanding many of the programs under the Patriot Act that you protested against during the Bush administration.
Regardless of the character of the messenger, the message is still the same. The Obama administration has greatly expanded spying programs that indiscriminately collect data on innocent civilians. It was something that progressives, like myself, protested under Bush, and I protest it under Obama, too. The government changed the rules under Obama, but the means are the same, and it goes well beyond what the 4th amendment allows.
But party is more important than principle to the “progressives” who support it now after condemning it in the past.
[I’m a progressive liberal who voted for Obama twice]
That Is The Dead Giveaway… you didn’t vote for Obama twice… you support Greenwald tearing down of Liberals in high places… Bush two wars left Pres. Obama with MORE enemies and far-more threats to the United States to deal with… what do you expect him to do scale back and repeat another 9/11 on his watch? Private businesses including the search engines that you use every day collect and store 3 times more of your personal information than the government. Please Do your research!!
Like Greenwald, I lost confidence in the constitutional protections of the United States against executive power as a result of the actions of George W. Bush after 2003. Greenwald became incensed because of what GWB did AFTER 9/11. His position immediately after 9/11 is irrelevant.
That naive, uninformed little 36 year old, experienced lawyer…fell for President Bush and Cheney’s bullshit, hook, line and sinker. Now tell me why I should trust ole Glenn’s judgement? He deferred to them, trusted them, respected them as our elected leaders but when a Democrat gets elected president, all of a sudden Glenn finds religion and sees the light. Nice scam he’s pulled off on the dimwits who worship him. He’s become rich off his outrage and teamed up with a guy who is a big part of the problem. Money….Citizens United (Glenn agrees with the decision), Gun Control (Glenn opposes it, ya know?)…women, Glenn hates them to his core. But he knows exactly what populist buzzwords to use to get dimwitted libertarian idealists to swoon at his rhetoric, even though I doubt they even understand his points.