MountainMornings

From Dictionary.com

Whistleblower: a person who informs on another or makes public disclosure of corruption or

wrongdoing.

Leaker: a disclosure of secret, especially official, information, as to the news

media, by an unnamed source.

What we end up calling Edward Snowden says alot about us. After watching a replay of Meet the Press, where David Gregory interviewed the Guardian reporter, Glenn Greenwald, who is responsible for Snowden’s stories about our government’s secret agency and its “broad overreach,” I was actually appalled to find them both at each other’s throats. Two grown men,

“To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn’t you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?” Gregory asked with his best boyish grin.

Even though there was a slight satellite delay, Greenwald shot right back, calling him out on even suggesting, as one journalist to another, that they should be criminalized for doing their job! He explained that Snowden had offered his information to The Washington Post, before going to the UK…and he said he asked The Guardian to screen what they published – not to jeopardize our country’s security. Then, a few minutes later, Gregory read Greenwald’s further tongue lashing right out loud on Meet the Press, from a Twitter feed:

“Who needs the government to try to criminalize journalism when you have David Gregory to do it?”

OK, so it’s now 4 am and I am not going back to bed!

That darn red cardinal is still slamming his body on my window, despite our attempt to make him feel like he was approaching a Smurf airfield.

The sleep fairy has eluded me once more.

So Gregory said he’s not embracing anything, just asking the question that was “out there.” And Greenwald, who is also an attorney, further tweets about Gregory,  ‘does he publicly wonder if DC officials should be prosecuted for lying to Congress?’ And this morning Greenwald really gets the coffee flowing in my veins by Tweeting:

“It’s awful how Snowden is traveling through countries with no freedom! Now: back to our debate: should US journalists be arrested? #Sorkin

It’s like a Wimbledon match for journalism! IMHO, the best quote about my profession is, “The purpose of journalism is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” So here is a good wrap-up of this tele-computing exchange across the pond; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/06/23/david-gregory-whiffs-on-greenwald-question/

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling comfortably afflicted! And if you’d like to know how it all got started: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-profile

Once we start accusing, threatening (yes, even in a veiled way –  “to the extent that you have aided and abetted” – I love how one reporter compares that to asking the question with no good answer – “Have you stopped beating your wife?”…) and yes, maybe even arresting investigative journalists, we might just as well pack it in as a democracy.