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Glenn Greenwald spends the last third of his excellent new book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the US Surveillance State, exposing the mentality and function of pseudo-journalists like David Gregory, who are in fact better understood as courtiers to power. So it was kind of Michael Kinsley to offer himself up today as living proof of Greenwald's arguments.

In a New York Times book review, Kinsley says:

"The question is who decides [what to publish]. It seems clear, at least to me, that the private companies that own newspapers, and their employees, should not have the final say over the release of government secrets, and a free pass to make them public with no legal consequences. In a democracy (which, pace Greenwald, we still are), that decision must ultimately be made by the government."

Pause for a moment to let that sink in. How can the government have ultimate decision-making power consistent with the First Amendment with regard to the publication of leaks? As Kinsley himself goes on to say, "You can't square this circle." Indeed. Unless you believe the government should be able to impose prior restraint on the publication of anything it deems secret. Unless you want to argue that the Constitution should be amended accordingly. Unless you believe the government should have been able to prevent the publication of, say, the Pentagon Papers (it certainly tried).

Kinsley is a guy who's spent his adult life as a journalist — or at least pretending to be one — and it's as though he has no notion at all of George Orwell's pithy definition: "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.

ASUG8 wrote:I thought we were a republic, not a democracy.

Ibanez wrote:

ASUG8 wrote:I thought we were a republic, not a democracy.

We are a Republic.

kalm wrote:

Ibanez wrote: We are a Republic.

We are a constitutionally limited democratic republic.

ASUG8 wrote:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY[/youtube]

OL FU wrote:whether we are a democracy or a republic. The bigger point is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...

There is nothing wrong with a journalist taking into consideration national security issues before deciding to publish, but to say the federal government should decide whether something is published. The guy shouldn't be called a journalist.

Baldy wrote:

kalm wrote:
We are a constitutionally limited democratic republic.

Constitutional Republic.

kalm wrote:

Baldy wrote: Constitutional Republic.

And democratic

CID1990 wrote:

kalm wrote:
And democratic

I would just go with republic for now

constitutional and democratic are up for debate

ASUG8 wrote:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY[/youtube]

CID1990 wrote:

kalm wrote:
And democratic

I would just go with republic for now

constitutional and democratic are up for debate

JoltinJoe wrote:

OL FU wrote:whether we are a democracy or a republic. The bigger point is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...

There is nothing wrong with a journalist taking into consideration national security issues before deciding to publish, but to say the federal government should decide whether something is published. The guy shouldn't be called a journalist.

Not so hasty, there. If the government had its way, Glenn Greenwald would have never published Edward Snowden's revelations, and we could be having this conversation blissfully unaware that our private communications were subject to being monitored.

What was that George Carlin line? He answers his phone by saying, "F*** the CIA."

JoltinJoe wrote:I was just being facetious -- apparently not all that well.

HI54UNI wrote:Calling Michael Kinsley a journalist is about as accurate as calling Rush Limbaugh a journalist.

Baldy wrote:

HI54UNI wrote:Calling Michael Kinsley a journalist is about as accurate as calling Rush Limbaugh a journalist.

The really funny part is that Kinsley thinks he is while Limbaugh will tell you he isn't.

HI54UNI wrote:Calling Michael Kinsley a journalist is about as accurate as calling Rush Limbaugh a journalist.

HI54UNI wrote:Calling Michael Kinsley a journalist is about as accurate as calling Rush Limbaugh a journalist.