For all the other issues raised by the last two weeks of drama, I think we can say with little doubt that Snowden has put OJ epically to shame in teasing out the full dramatic potential of the slow speed chase genre. But what is he doing exactly? The Chinese clearly wanted to wash their hands of this as quickly as they could. We’re cashing out, they seemed to be saying, we don’t want anything to do with this mess of yours. But the Russians looked at it and said, Hey, play me in. We’d love to play this hand. Read More
Russia’s foreign minister: “We consider the attempts to accuse Russia of violation of U.S. laws and even some sort of conspiracy, which on top of all that are accompanied by threats, as absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable.”
IRS Chief: inappropriate screening included search terms ‘Progressive,’ ‘Occupy,’ ‘Israel’.
The AP piece I linked to presents this as somehow, Hey, it’s even worse than we thought, they were targeting everyone!
“Werfel’s comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify.”
But if they were targeting obviously political groups across the political spectrum, the story seems rather different than what we’ve been led to believe.
Andrew Ross Sorkin: “I’d Almost Arrest Glenn Greenwald.” Watch.
I certainly don’t think it’s totally generational. But I think there’s an element of it that is. TPM Reader MB shares his thoughts …
What I find most compelling about the Snowdon affair is what it says about changing generational attitudes toward foreign policy–in particular, I feel that it’s the first major salvo in Generation Y’s war on realist foreign policy.
Sen. Nelson (D-FL) says Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one pulling the strings in Snowden saga. Watch.
Our TPMPrime Live Chat with Sen. Angus King starts in 30 minutes. Join us.
Texas GOP state Rep.: No need for abortion rape exemption since women get “cleaned out” with “rape kits.”
There’s a new Snowden article out in the Times that’s well worth your time to read. I suspect it will confound at least a few of the assumptions held by people on either side of the Snowden divide, sympathetic or not. The gist of the article is that Snowden’s decision to leave Hong Kong came rather late, after one meeting with his Hong Kong lawyers and that Snowden seemed to have arrived in Hong Kong with only a very limited understanding of what his legal position would be once he arrived and disclosed his identity. Read More
Edward Snowden now says he took the contractor position with Booz Allen Hamilton for the express purpose of collecting evidence on secret surveillance programs for later exposure.