What state surveillance actually is is best understood by the NSA's own documents and own words, which I think as you know I happen to have a lot of. Glenn Greenwald More Quotes by Glenn Greenwald More Quotes From Glenn Greenwald American political culture quickly and always outpaces any attempt to satirize it. Glenn Greenwald political-culture political culture There is a massive apparatus within the United States government that with complete secrecy has been building this enormous structure that has only one goal, and that is to destroy privacy and anonymity, not just in the United States but around the world. Glenn Greenwald united-states government goal The more fear confrontational activism can put into the heart of the political class, the better. Glenn Greenwald political heart class The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be? Glenn Greenwald drug use war [N]othing is less reliable than unchecked claims from political officials that their secret conduct is justified by National Security Threats and the desire to Keep Us Safe. Glenn Greenwald political secret desire I personally think honestly disclosing rather than hiding ones subjective values makes for more honest and trustworthy journalism. But no journalism - from the most stylistically objective to the most brazenly opinionated - has any real value unless it is grounded in facts, evidence, and verifiable data. Glenn Greenwald data real thinking What we revealed is that this spying system is devoted not to terrorists, but is directed to innocent people around the world. None of this has anything to do with terrorism. Is Angela Merkel a terrorist? Glenn Greenwald nsa people world The War on Terror has been and continues to be, above all, a war on the most basic liberties and political safeguards that we're all taught are what distinguishes the US and keeps it free. Glenn Greenwald liberty political war The many pro-surveillance advocates I have debated since Snowden blew the whistle have been quick to echo [Google CEO] Eric Schmidt's view that privacy is for people who have something to hide. But none of them would willingly give me the passwords to their email accounts, or allow video cameras in their homes. Glenn Greenwald echoes views home I know it's a really hard concept to process, but the fact that Govt accuses someone of being a Terrorist doesn't mean they are. Glenn Greenwald process mean facts He's the President—it's the responsibility of every citizen to criticize aggressively when they think it's warranted. Glenn Greenwald president responsibility thinking It is simply an invariable truth in the history of politics, in the history of government, that whenever a new power is acquired in the name of some threat, it always - not sometimes, not often, not usually -it always extends beyond its original application, beyond its original justification. Glenn Greenwald government names sometimes It's common to go from 'crashing the gate' to guarding it. Glenn Greenwald guarding gates common But when Warren has spoken on national security, she has invariably spouted warmed-over, banal Democratic hawk tripe of the kind that she just recited about Israel and Gaza. During her Senate campaign, for instance, she issued wildly militaristic – and in some cases clearly false – statements about Iran and its nuclear program that would have been comfortable on the pages of The Weekly Standard. Glenn Greenwald nuclear iran israel Those [American Jews] who favor the [Israeli] attack on Gaza are certainly guilty of such overwhelming emotional and cultural attachment to Israel and Israelis, that they long ago ceased viewing this conflict with any remnant of objectivity. Glenn Greenwald emotional attachment israel It’s just simply the fact that the NSA does not think anybody should be able to communicate anywhere on the Earth without them being able to invade it. Glenn Greenwald nsa doe thinking When journalists are 'accused' of being 'advocates', that means: challenging and deviating from DC orthodoxies. Glenn Greenwald orthodoxy challenges mean No matter the specific techniques involved, historically mass surveillance has had several constant attributes. Initially, it is always the country’s dissidents and marginalized who bear the brunt of the surveillance, leading those who support the government or are merely apathetic to mistakenly believe they are immune. And history shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one. Glenn Greenwald government believe country The Obama administration already claims the power to wage endless and boundless war, in virtually total secrecy, and without a single meaningful check or constraint. No institution with any power disputes this. To the contrary, the only ones which exert real influence - Congress, the courts, the establishment media, the plutocratic class - clearly favor its continuation and only think about how further to enable it. Glenn Greenwald real meaningful war Nobody really even knows with whom the US is at war, or where. Everyone just knows that it is vital that it continue in unlimited form indefinitely. Glenn Greenwald unlimited form war
