Edward Snowden, Benedict Arnold or Paul Revere? |
Meanwhile, one has the notion that our national security is being run by Wile E. Coyote and we are being informed about it by dinner party journalists like Charlie Rose who seemed more concerned that Snowden was a college drop-out than the possibility that Snowden’s motives, however illegal, might possibly be honorable. Politicians, many of whom I have supported, are standing in line, not to tell us what the hell is going on, but that Snowden is public enemy number one. During the pile on, one prominent official said that Snowden’s decision not to go a country friendly to the U.S. is somehow proof of his villainy. Right. A man charged with one count of theft AND two counts of espionage is going to hide out in Banff? Or maybe Cancun? And really, is the country of Ecuador, his stated destination, trying to bring us down?
It’s quite likely Snowden is in over his head. How could he not be? In fact, that’s the real danger. But the college drop-out — for a good or an evil we cannot possibly know yet — has already shown us that private, global corporations are trusted with secrets the American public knows nothing about. He retrieved the secrets out of a system set up for maximum security, avoided capture and appears to be on his way to protected exile.
The drama is set against a monumental, Bondesque
background. We even have a Dr. No with
comic dictator Vladimir Putin, the
super macho Stalin wannabe. Throw in a
pinch of Cuba. And China — all of China,
including spy-film friendly Hong Kong.
The second film is about journalist Michael Hastings, who wrote a story for Rolling Stone that tripped up super hero General Stanley McChrystal. Unfortunately, we know how Hastings and the story ends — a
high-speed fiery crash in L.A. at 4:30 a.m. not too long after he sent the
following e-mail to cohorts and a blind-copy to an old friend:
Subject: FBI Investigation,
re: NSA
Hey (redacted names) -- the
Feds are interviewing my "close friends and associates." Perhaps if
the authorities arrive "BuzzFeed GQ," er HQ, may be wise to
immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about
our newsgathering practices or related journalism issues.
Also: I'm onto a big story,
and need to go off the rada(r) for a bit.
All the best, and hope to
see you all soon.
Michael
Hastings
was not universally appreciated. New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan countered her own
paper’s unflattering obituary, offering a partial defense of his take-no-prisoners
approach to a story.
… he was a fearless disturber
of the peace who believed not in playing along with those in power, but in
radical truth–telling.
Michael Hastings: Did He Know Too Much? |
The L.A. Times has suggested that Hastings
was working on a story about another popular general, and still another
embarrassment to the administration — this time David Petraeus. Was this the
big story?
Both
generals were deeply involved in the fight against terrorists and no doubt had
considerable access to and influence on Intelligence, including what the U.S.
is doing.
Set
against the constant news about the gathering of meta data on everyone who uses
a computer or phone, alleged spying of foreign governments and whatever else
might be on Snowden’s laptops, Hastings story already has more depth than most
crime or spy movies. (From personal tragedy
— his fiancée was killed in an ambush while riding with a convoy in Iraq as she
returned from a teaching gig — to great success in book publishing.) His star,
however controversial, was on the rise.
His
last email is a key to the story. Some
might see it as paranoid and make the argument that his excessive speed was a
reaction to an erroneous perception of persecution. Those less trusting of folks like the LAPD
and the FBI might think someone other than the 33-year-old Hastings, himself,
held the smoking gun. He was an
experienced war correspondent. If he was
paranoid, there might be good reason.
Probably
the most disturbing element in the story to surface so far is that a video
exists of Hastings’ Mercedes speeding through an intersection moments before
the crash. Apparently someone happened
to be recording that particular L.A. Intersection
at 4:30 that particular morning, capturing the lone speeder, actually the only
thing moving at all. The point of the
video seems to be that for as long as 34 seconds after Hastings went out of the
frame, there were no cars in his wake.
No one was chasing him is the conclusion we are supposed to draw. Or should
we? Why was this guy there? And what was
he videotaping in the dead of night? His
presence to dot the “i”, so to speak, is more disturbing than if there was no
one to prove he wasn’t being chased. And
these days, chasing is passé. If someone
engineered Hastings’ dramatic death, one would expect use of more sophisticated
technology.
According
to reports, the FBI said they were not investigating Hastings. The LAPD, who investigated the crash, said
there was no evidence of foul play.
But
back to the movies. We are faced with
Smiley’s people and the hall of mirrors.
Certainly this is the stuff of conspiracy. But we have to admit that the timing of
events and all these connections, and the desperate huffing and puffing of our
celebrity senators create a fascinating if not frightening premise for drama.
As
you create your own movie and choose your own the villains and heroes, you
might want to sit back with a whiskey on the rocks and consider such things as
Booz Allen being hired by our government to run our security systems and
companies such as Black Water, a private military company, to handle what we don’t
want our own military to do, or perhaps know about. And given the damning rush to judgment
against Snowden by the media, we might want to rethink the notion of journalists as “media
watchdogs,” but rather “hello kitties.” Hastings, no matter how he died, remained a watch dog. The story on Snowden is still unfolding.
1 comment:
Here are some interesting, related stories:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_good_germans_in_government_20130625/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/25/hacking_a_car_is_way_too_easy/
Ron
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