Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
“And now a personal remark…..”
Have you congratulated Snowden on his award?
“First point……Of course. That was the whole point.”
So to recap
Snowden appoints KGB Lawyer – no guilt by association
David Nott linked to the Great Zionist conspiracy and many other things just by being interviewed on the BBC – clear guilt by association
Do you see the problem?
I have to say, John, I’ll concede that people may have had bread on the table under Sir Nicolae Ceausescu, but mourn his demise I will not. It’s only now with the advent of the internet that we can see how “we” often destabilise/remove undesirable regimes (the MSM never seem to tell us that) and I’m sure Romania had its share of Orange Revolution-style provocateurs, but the regime was not one I could have supported, even if I hadn’t been more concerned with gender-specific action toys at the time!
Same with Assad. I don’t support the guy, but this is about the integrity of Syria, and I despise the “rebels” Saudi are funding, and the exiled carpetbaggers in the “moderate” opposition. It’s only cos I think I know what’s happening there (as a net-surfing adult) that I certainly do not support yet more foreign invervention.
Does that make sense?
Today’s suspicious observers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNiaxdn8BEE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUTiL1q9YbrVam5nP2xzFTWQ
ELSO; Did you not notice Sofia replied to you as RD?
Clark: “And are you a new name for Resident Dissident? You seem to produce similar typos”
Yes I was beginning to notice this between “ESLO” & “Resident Dissident”; it’s a bit of a standing joke now, how often “Resident Dissident” suddenly does a vanishing act after being asked challenging questions, just like yours here;
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/10/edward-snowden-gets-sam-adams-award/comment-page-6/#comment-434291
““‘The Fifth Estate’ is going to fail,” he told the Hollywood Foreign Press Association via Skype from the Ecuador Embassy in London, where he has been residing in diplomatic asylum for more than a year.
And Assange appears to be right. The movie, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Assange, grossed just $1.7 million in 1,769 locations — the worst opening weekend for a wide-release film this year.”
“Let them eat lentils”, eh John.
Ceausescu became obsessed with reducing Romania’s national debt to the point that most of the country’s agricultural and industrial production was exported. This meant hardship, starvation and rationing for all but the party elite. Meat became almost unobtainable, one tank of petrol a month and even the TV propaganda was restricted to two hours a day. We seem to have forgotten the images from inside the orphanages where desperate parents dumped children they couldn’t afford to feed (shamefully many haven’t improved very much) not to mention his massive and unnecessary building programmes which blighted much of the country.
It’s really little wonder his people decided they’d had enough and shot him but no, it has to have been some NWO plot carried out by plain clothes Freemasons working for Mossad.
oops….linky…..http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/is-the-fifth-estates-box-office-bomb-a-victory-for-julian-assange/
“Politics is the art of controlling one’s environment” HST
Does anyone see what works and doesn’t work? Just askin’….
It makes perfect sense to me Mike. Anybody who gets to power gets there by trampling on and/or using others. Nevertheless Ceausescu and the Communist regime spared the life of the king and even let him take his possessions with him. What would the king have done? What the king did, that’s what.
If you are king when the war’s not going your way you change sides, blame it on the government, and heads fall. You then get awarded a medal by Stalin (great honour). But King Michael was not a communist and Romania was given to the Communists at the Yalta carve up if I remember right. How these wars change the shape of the geopolitical globe!
For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.
Hunter S. Thompson
John; weird synchronicity….
Ben
No – I just noticed my comment in italics.
Some people here are incredibly paranoid in assuming that everyone who disagrees with the prevailing bonkers ethos are all the same – presumably because it makes it easier fro them to entertain their delusion that the vast majority of sensible people agree with them. They also seem to think that they can demand 24/7 responses from their targets presumably because they assume that such people have nothing better to do with their lives.
John; I was referring to our simultaneous posts on ‘trampling’. But, I agree it is easy to dismiss a contrary opinion. I try to keep it in perspective, but find myself looking foolish sometimes. It’s a risk I’m willing to take, but fool me once……..
“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
ERDO. 4 40pm
“David Nott linked to the Great Zionist conspiracy and many other things just by being interviewed on the BBC – clear guilt by association
Do you see the problem?
Give me strength!
Again. Can you just look back through that whole endless bloody argument from the 19th and them tell me honestly that the key issue was David Nott and not,
1.BBC Propaganda,
2. Intelligence assets in NGOs
and
3. People not wanting to be fooled into supporting another blitzkrieg?
Yes, David Nott’s judgement in accepting an OBE was called into question very early in the debate, as was his endorsement of the “nice”qualities of War Criminal Blair. Surely that evidence suggests he may not be a neutral player? That was something that clearly got in the way of discussing the main points.
But you know as well as I do that that David Nott’s association with the BBC was not what most of the conversation was about.
If you still have any doubts check this.(20 Oct, 2013 – 12:24 am)
ESLO, good answer and observations there @ 5.10pm
I wonder if Ben can be here now and tell us what he thinks rather than pulling out one quotation after another of his guru Hunter Thompson…
Villager
23 Oct, 2013 – 12:34 am
“My 727-billion*-dollar-question is why has Saudi Arabia not been able to better support their Palestinian brethren better over the years/decades?
* Saudi GDP”
Ben, have you had a chance to think over this question?
No criticism Ben. I too enjoy some of the inadvertent wit. Best.
“Ben, have you had a chance to think over this question?”
Villager; I remember the question, but lost the context. Bandar/Assad are the same smell to me.
Villager; I don’t intend to irritate with quotes from HST, but if it chafes some, I suspect it’s for all the right reasons.
““We’ve heard over and over again the assertion that 54 terrorist plots were thwarted … That’s plainly wrong, but we still get it in letters to members of Congress, we get it in statements.” — Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)”
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/23-1
Sofia
I have only looked at the argument and I’m afraid once is enough – but your summary of the argument appears to be very one sided (i.e. yours)- I am pretty certain that Resident Dissident was arguing that Dr Nott’s motivation was to do the decent thing and help preserve lives rather than any of the lower aims that you suggest. It really is a sign of your political immaturity (or perhaps more kindly it is just the arrogance of youth) that you cannot see that there may more than one side to an argument and how you cannot see how the arguments you employ are often similar constructs to those that you criticise in others. I very much doubt that you have much further of value to say on this subject – so please don’t bother or at least done expect a reply if you do. I would recommend sitting down with your cup of tea and just try to understand that others think differently from yourself for a whole variety of reasons other than immorality or a lack of intelligence.
Well, well, fancy that !
Here’s the Stormfront Post;
I have written quite a lot about this on the Craig Murray website over many years. Jewish people are behind too many problems in the world and their relatively small number makes that even worse. For some time now, I have been the victim of harrassment by an Old Testament prophet by the handle of ‘Habbabkuk’ because I discuss crimes, corruption and self-interest by Israel and Jews in power. The reach of establishment Jews is far and wide, and small, insignificant voices like mine are not spared from their efforts to gag public discussion. I encourage you to visit Mr Murray’s website if you have the time and engage in a real debate about the problem with Jews.
If you are genuine in your inquiry, then answer lies in history. Let’s discuss.
– Flaming June
http://stormfront.org/forum/t986178-3/#post11448837
Notice the incorrect spelling, “harrassment”; so guess who repeatedly makes the exact same spelling mistake on this Blog;
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/09/why-i-am-convinced-that-anna-ardin-is-a-liar/#comment-356059
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/10/edward-snowden-gets-sam-adams-award/comment-page-7/#comment-434305
Etc,
No wonder he was so keen to keep calling Mary “Stormfront Mary”.
Jemand you are a disgusting disgrace.
Saudi Arabia is closely allied with Israel, isn’t it?
It sort of seems like the Cold War never ended. The US/UK axis seems to ally with the Middle Eastern monarchies plus Israel, while Russia / former USSR seem allied with the one-party Ba’athist states.
The Palestinians end up with no superpower on their side, so they just get slaughtered.
The Islamic extremists / Wahabists / Al-Qaeda get a bad deal too. They get used as the West’s proxy forces until they’ve served their purpose, whereupon the West turns on them and murders them.
“. The US/UK axis seems to ally with the Middle Eastern monarchies plus Israel”
Nothing changes. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912364,00.html
“I’m proud to be racist !”
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/10/is-it-really-israels-new-racism/#more-51288
It won’t change until the Middle Eastern oil runs short enough.
http://www.killick1.plus.com/map.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24647268
Breaking in Macky to say thank you for going to the trouble of finding that link. I never looked for it so this is the first I have seen of it. I do find it deeply disturbing and also upsetting to see that a fellow human can sink so low. The hate within must be extreme.
I am also not responding to the earlier post from across the Irish Sea. The person is beneath contempt for the lies and the ad hominem content in the post and is in danger of becoming a troll for repeating their script. The post is a testament to someone who cannot see a troll for looking. Pity that the person is befriending them and communicating with them.
It is interesting that the Irish visitor knew that the Stormfront hoaxer used my acronym at the time which was ‘Flaming June’.
I hope Craig posts again soon. On new pages of comments, the trolls are too cowardly to appear and leave their poisonous stuff.
I will be thinking of Craig tonight at 9pm when the Mitchell and Webb nonsense is broadcast. See this lightweight ‘puff piece’ which matches its subjects. No mention of the plagiarisation of Craig’s book of course and we can be sure that no images of bodies boiled alive will be included in the series nor any of the other horror Craig saw in Uzbekistan.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/mitchell-and-webb-the-funny-old-world-of-foreign-affairs-8895178.html
Best wishes and bye for now.