defend the indefensible: glenn fucking greenwald

ugh, the worst, right? anyway, i just really wanted to share this lustrous takedown of him from some guy's blog i don't know:
http://jacobinism.blogspot.co.il/2013/05/drooling-self-love-dime-store-third.html

One will search Greenwald’s writing for coherence in vain because, although he espouses moral relativism when it suits his agenda, as we’ve just seen, he’ll vehemently disown it with his very next breath. His is not a thoughtful, principled commitment to a philosophy he’s prepared to defend or apply consistently. Rather, his geopolitical outlook might be best described as a half-understood kind of dime-store Third Worldism; a gruesome combination of a thoroughgoing Western masochism with an ostensible compassion for the wretched of the earth that masks the same racist condescension and contempt typified by the worst kind of colonialist paternalism.

hes cooler than you

isms in my opinion aren't good

it was funny when the exile would troll him by only referring to him as "glenn greenwald of the libertarian cato institute"

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OoUEP8atZl4/UY8Z5RFJ5mI/AAAAAAAAALg/ftL1Q9ZSCTc/s1600/greenwald.jpg

he looks like an older mark zuckerberg here

Principled, consistent, systematic political philosophers do not become pundits. Greenwald's inconsistencies merely validate his membership in that group. Apart from that shocking accusation, all the rest of the takedown quoted above is pure vilification. iow, it is a less witty version of what Greenwald does for a living. pot calling out the kettle.

no no I meant it as a compliment

By calling him the "worst", you are being as simplistic as he sometimes is.

I think he is a bad writer but I agree with most of the points he makes.

good thing i'm only making threads on ilx and not opining for a major newspaper xp

Mordy does simplistic a lot, with relish

mordy doesnt like glenn-chan because he refuses to kiss israel's feet and lips and buttlips. let's just be real about it

well that's why he's the worst!

Mordy, I've only read the Thatcher article, show me what he wrote that you didn't like?

Like any pundit he's useful when you need him to prove your point. Explaining how presidential administration quietly or openly chip away at civil liberties is his strength; he lacks the subtlety to explain what makes civil liberties worth preserving and the style that would make him consistently readable. Like all brands, he's taken for granted.

^ i agree with this

"thoroughgoing Western masochism" = we hadda kill those people, dammit.

Works well for Israel, too.

like most men, he looks vile in cargo shorts

http://www.out.com/sites/out.com/files/GlennGreenwald1.jpg

goddamn his husband

He looks better in cargo shorts than glenn does

goddamn to hell colored flip flops.

lol this thread

greenwald is occasionally (ok, more than occasionally) long-winded but he is easily the best political blogger of the last decade.

treeship mostly otm

also i think we've gone over this ground p thoroughly in the last 5 years

also that blog you linked to really sucks!

harry's place, LGF, euston manifesto in the blogroll... labor hawks, man, 2004 in effect

mordy didn't you love greenwald until a few years ago

mordy's not an obama stan but i did sort of notice that he lost a lot of fans around 2009 or so, weird

who lost fans, GG, obama or mordy?

i did love greenwald until a few years ago - i remember when i forced myself to unsub from his rss feed. this was when he was still at salon.

Hmm. It seems to me that the only reason Greenwald is perplexed by accusations of relativism is that he doesn't understand what the term means. [goes on to define moral relativism]

yes thanks much fucker

anyway he's at his best when he just writes about the law and doesn't try to pundit so much, and once you read like 100 of his columns you pretty much know what he's going to think about everything and he becomes less necessary to read on a daily basis. he's definitely a necessary force for good in the world of political writing. even if i don't need to read him anymore, i wouldn't want a blogosphere without him

have to say some of the clones he's produced are pretty dire, like him otm more often than not but with even less style and just clearly not as smart or well-researched. forget these dudes names atm but it's not important, they're like slate writers or something. also goes without saying his commenters are generally the scum of the earth but i haven't read any of his comments in years either

i used to find his writing very interesting - he'd present new material (especially legal material) that i wasn't familiar with, he'd analyze it very insightfully, etc. now he just rants and writes arguments about how ideologically impure everyone but he is. also i think he's doubled down significantly on the wrong side of liberalism. like when he asked recently why Israeli can bomb Syria without condemnation when obv if Syria bombed Israel ppl would be hysterical. obv equivalencies like that are immediately intellectually suspect (um, Assad has been lobbing shit into Israel for months w/out much attention), but also it's just this really facile kind of geopolitical analysis. at some point he traded in what he was good at - legal analysis - for ideological tirades. i think it really destroyed any value he held.

lol at that 'lustrous takedown,' which includes gems like this:

Those of us who recognise the universal importance and desirability of the above, have little difficulty in ascribing inferiority to a culture that is - conversely - obscurantist, theocratic, misogynistic, racist and oppressive, such as that of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

dismissing a 'culture' (rather than a government) as 'inferior' sounds pretty racist to me.

cultures aren't synonymous w/ races

maybe it's culturist tho!

yeah i mean it's kind of a dickish thing to say no matter how you slice it.

nah, some cultures obv suck

i am a big fan of both gg and mordy, i am sad they can't be friends

they can walk in flip flops and shorts together

now he just rants and writes arguments about how ideologically impure everyone but he is

eh he inserts enough qualifiers and equivocations to suggest otherwise, but he IS fond of adverbs

feet and lips and buttlips

I love you

Greenwald has also criticised the US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on the grounds that they deny those held there the protection of the rule of law and due process. But if these are markers by which it is possible to judge the American administration's commitment to human rights, why are they not also suitable markers by which to judge that of the Iranian or Syrian regimes, whose behaviour by these standards is demonstrably much worse? And if these markers are deemed legitimate points of universalist comparison by Greenwald, then why not others such as the emancipation of women, and the protection of LGBTQ rights? And why the reluctance to judge, and where necessary indict, cultures accordingly?

oh, the bush years. remember this shit? lol

i do think GG used to be better than he is now -- he rarely surprises me anymore. i usually skip the pieces where he just complains about cable news. this was one of his better pieces from the last couple years:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/02/obama-civil-liberties-history

let's summarize Mordy's points:

tuchus

i did make fun of mordy's cargo shorts once which i regret

i think JD's point that he's the best political blogger of the past decade (ever?) is pretty tough to argue with; even if you dislike his more recent punditry (something i can sympathize with), his strengths make him on balance pretty invaluable. you can even just choose to remember the good times

Greenwald can only withhold judgement of Iran's dismal human rights record or Syria's campaign of sectarian slaughter by affirming that Persians and Arabs are simply not culturally suited to the liberties and protections derived from Enlightenment thought to which Westerners rightly feel they are entitled. Instead, they must be perceived as childlike, simple and sometimes savage peoples whose cultural proclivities demonstrate a preference for subjugation, violence, injustice and fear over liberty and peace, and who are incapable of understanding egalitarian concepts of human rights due to their uniquely 'Western' character.

maybe the best domestic blogger critic of america but he's so outclassed by like every other geopolitical blogger

the blue and the dim of feet and lips and buttlips
i would spread my lips on those buttlips

i think that's pretty otm. i've felt for a long time like there's a racism of low expectations at play in post-colonialism + cultural relativism xxp

like stephen walt is hardly a friend of israel but he's so much more worth reading than greenwald. he actually writes new material and has insights that seem valuable. and he doesn't rant.

nah, some cultures obv suck

― Mordy , Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:37 PM (27 seconds ago) Bookmark

agreed, for example the racist settler state known as Israel

Greenwald has also criticised the US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on the grounds that they deny those held there the protection of the rule of law and due process. But if these are markers by which it is possible to judge the American administration's commitment to human rights, why are they not also suitable markers by which to judge that of the Iranian or Syrian regimes, whose behaviour by these standards is demonstrably much worse? And if these markers are deemed legitimate points of universalist comparison by Greenwald, then why not others such as the emancipation of women, and the protection of LGBTQ rights? And why the reluctance to judge, and where necessary indict, cultures accordingly?

oh, the bush years. remember this shit? lol

― goole, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:40 PM (3 minutes ago)

ha wait, who's the relativist now?

gg has said on numerous occasions that he focuses on the US because he's a US citizen. seems pretty simple

not sure who yr lecturing abt this on this thread, morbs was the last person to defend him with any vigour and then largely to wind up fred b

He’s anti system without any moral core. One minute he’s Bernie, then he’s all about Trump and advocating a red-brown alliance.

Ok you seemed to be wondering why everyone picks on him.

nope i think it's unsurprising and entirely justified, he shd cry more

i actually do think he's a bit hapless

i once saw a tweet that put a picture of him next to a dog that got stung by a bee because they had the same face and i think about that tweet every day

And he owns 245 dogs

Lots of people have been asking how they can support me. I started a substack & will be posting some exclusive content for subscribers there. It’s the best way to lend support and stay connected if I get banned from social media. I will never be silenced! https://t.co/WLwnY4m2bH

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) April 19, 2022

There we go

Pigs of Sub Stak

Could you summarize that "perspective" and explain how you find it "useful"? Useful for what?

― but also fuck you (unperson), Tuesday, April 19, 2022 5:00 PM (three hours ago)

well, i still think he has a lot of good stuff to say about the US govt, the national security state, foreign policy, war, the military industrial complex, how the defense industry at large disseminates its POVs thru the media, legal matters etc. i think his perspective on the war between ukraine and russia has been a useful counter narrative to much of what you otherwise will find in the media, same for russian interference in the election, tho he can overly focus on that to the point of boredom (for me) (i don't care about hunter biden's laptop) (i also think much of the russia based hysterics have been proven to look foolish by now). his opinions on liberal/republican culture war stuff i don't really care for or about, but i just scroll past that stuff. he cares way too much about fox news vs msnbc, taylor lorenz, the new york times etc. but again, i just scroll or click away. i think he's stayed pretty ideologically consistent over the years on stuff like privacy, censorship, speech, war etc. i disagree w/ him even on those things but the ideological basis for his arguments is pretty much always clear to me. i find his writing really tedious nowadays btw i never read his articles i'm just talking about his twitter punditry

"i find his writing really tedious nowadays

i'm just talking about his twitter punditry"

i you what why not just stop

for the record (and to ensure we all think abt it every day):

https://t.co/2DOky89U0W pic.twitter.com/7UVXEEXP1D

— in the pocket of Big Tenant (@AllezLesBoulez) April 20, 2022

btw the real shit thing about this is the LibsOfTikTok lady is probably gonna be set for life after this, nothing the right wing loves more than a martyr

I notice how almost none of the LOTT defenders, including Greenwald, actually engage with the utter dreck and hate that account traffics in. They act like it's just "making fun of liberals," but its real focus is aggressive anti-gay anti-trans hate.

Guy on Facebook yesterday was going off at me about witches in Kentucky teaching toddlers to masturbate, which he got off LOTT. Which actually turned out to be a community sex education nonprofit trying to provide decent health information and contraception access to Appalachian teenagers — who have very high teen pregnancy rates. This is what that site does, it makes people online hate things like Appalachian contraception access. It's vile.

also worth mentioning that LOTT bought in wholesale to that "litter boxes in schools" story

"News and videos you won't see anywhere else."

the fact that LOTT is sharing info with the DeSantis admin to be used in attacks on FL teachers kind of takes her out of the realm of anonymous internet posters

i watched the video in that tweet and came away with the undeniable conclusion that glenn greenwald is a huge clown with no integrity

The same folks happy that LOTT is getting teachers fired and or harassed were going crazy cuz the W. Post article originally had a link to LOTT lady's Brooklyn real estate office (and cuz the W Post writer showed up at door of her Brooklyn relatives and knocked on the door). Funny that GG ended up being cited as a source in the article confirming LOTT locations

thank you mark s!

He looks so overjoyed to be receiving the attention of Tucker, a fascist who would gladly push Glem into a gas oven at the earliest opportunity, as soon as he ceased being a useful tool.

so fucking infuriating that the LOTT lady is acting like she has to be moved to a "secure location" because one reporter knocked on her door while she has singlehandedly inspired hundreds of death threats against people just because they're queer

Since this is where we're talking LOTT, I'll add this Pareene link, which seems otm: https://theap.substack.com/p/they-know-how-journalism-works-theyre?s=r

1. In a lengthy defense of @TuckerCarlson, @ggreenwald says "there is no racial hierarchy in Carlson's view of American citizenship and to claim that there is is nothing short of a defamatory lie."

Here is exactly why this is wrong.

🧵

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 15, 2022

I can't.

Can we just leave this thread alone until GG dies

Seconding

Stop censoring us

lol

Sorry, can't stop myself.

Current state of Greenwald is he's doing puff piece media for Alex Jones https://t.co/nX2Gw1BzsM

— Wild Geerters (@steinkobbe) July 18, 2022

AJ looks like shit

Xpost Yeah without question he’d vote for Rand over Bernie Sanders

― Nerdstrom Poindexter, Tuesday, April 24, 2018 1:15 PM (three hours ago)

I always wonder when people say things like this whether they're dumb or just uninformed

― k3vin k., Tuesday, 24 April 2018 21:04 (four years ago)

my man is simply the greatest to ever do it pic.twitter.com/lqTCepCaEw

— mark (@kept_simple) July 20, 2022

remember that old joke about how liberals would forgive their muggers mid-mugging?

Gaetz is holding out for a bill that lowers the marriage age to 14 nationwide.

Libertarians going full fash has ruined the market for "actually, it's ephebophilia" jokes.

JFC. The whole point of constitutionally protected rights is that the states cannot infringe on them. Saying "it should be left to the states" is an admission that (1) constitutional protections do not exist and (2) you are OK with individual states outlawing the activity in question altogether. We shouldn't concede either point.

Someone get me when Greenwald is launched into the sun

Seems like GG has found a really cool new audience.

Probably because Soros acts more like a stereotype. It's like he read antisemitic literature and was like "I could actually do that and when someone points it out I can cry 'antisemitism!'". People who actually know what soros gets up to know the complaints are legit.

— Jonathan Kadmon (@JonathanKadmon) July 25, 2022

Imagine the worst possible conversation between Greenwald and Alex Jones, then stand back in awe as it goes so much worse than that.

In case you were wondering if Glenn Greenwald was going to ask Alex Jones tough questions about Sandy Hook in their recent chat, well, here's the gist of what they said to each other about Jones' shtick (eg the massacre was a hoax, etc): pic.twitter.com/nkqD8qjYhb

— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) July 26, 2022

I have to echo DJP and requesting that this thread should be bumped only when this guy is assasinated, which he does not support, by Bolsanaro, who he does not support.

Guys you don’t have to open the thread

Hope springs eternal

What Alex Jones said was "Sandy Hook is synthetic, completely fake, with actors, in my view, manufactured.” verbatim. what a scumbag Glenn Greenwald is.

Guys you don’t have to open the thread

Every time I do, it’s I'm hoping someone is posting an obit

What Alex Jones said was "Sandy Hook is synthetic, completely fake, with actors, in my view, manufactured.” verbatim. what a scumbag Glenn Greenwald is.

Italy is on the verge of an election that will result in its first-ever female Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

One of Europe's most authoritarian politicians, the unelected EU Commission President @vonderleyen, is threatening to sanction Italy if its citizens vote for her party. https://t.co/vzLebA1vH7

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 24, 2022

Find someone who loves you as much as Glem loves far-right politicos

It is with the most profound sadness that I announce the passing away of my husband, @DavidMirandaRio. He would have turned 38 tomorrow.

His death, early this morning, came after a 9-month battle in ICU. He died in full peace, surrounded by our children and family and friends. pic.twitter.com/wtRvGyJyGl

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 9, 2023

this guy is going to move to Florida so he can keep posting isn't he