Today [Tuesday, March 6, 2018] is the 51st birthday of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Greenwald was born March 6, 1967 in New York City, New York. He is married to David Miranda.
Here is one source for more background information on Glenn Greenwald: Wikipedia — Glenn Greenwald.
I took notice of Greenwald’s writings in Salon in, if I am recalling this accurately, either 2008 or 2009.
I appreciate that he awakened me to the Democratic Party Establishment’s ways of operating. For one example: They act as if they are helpless but, in reality, are “complicit” in delivering harmful policies—and will do so, when the excuses certainly cannot fly any longer, while they are empowered. That that was certainly the case with the supermajority U.S. Senate that had when they were shaping the Affordable Care Act.
One such astute Greenwald piece was from The Democrats’ scam becomes more transparent (03.12.2010):
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about what seemed to be a glaring (and quite typical) scam perpetrated by Congressional Democrats: all year long, they insisted that the White House and a majority of Democratic Senators vigorously supported a public option, but the only thing oh-so-unfortunately preventing its enactment was the filibuster: sadly, we have 50 but not 60 votes for it, they insisted. Democratic pundits used that claim to push for “filibuster reform,” arguing that if only majority rule were required in the Senate, then the noble Democrats would be able to deliver all sorts of wonderful progressive reforms that they were truly eager to enact but which the evil filibuster now prevents. In response, advocates of the public option kept arguing that the public option could be accomplished by reconciliation — where only 50 votes, not 60, would be required — but Obama loyalists scorned that reconciliation proposal, insisting (at least before the Senate passed a bill with 60 votes) that using reconciliation was Unserious, naive, procedurally impossible, and politically disastrous.
But all those claims were put to the test — all those bluffs were called — once the White House decided that it had to use reconciliation to pass a final health care reform bill. That meant that any changes to the Senate bill (which had passed with 60 votes) — including the addition of the public option — would only require 50 votes, which Democrats assured progressives all year long that they had. Great news for the public option, right? Wrong. As soon as it actually became possible to pass it, the 50 votes magically vanished. Senate Democrats (and the White House) were willing to pretend they supported a public option only as long as it was impossible to pass it. Once reconciliation gave them the opportunity they claimed all year long they needed — a “majority rule” system — they began concocting ways to ensure that it lacked 50 votes.
Glenn Greenwald also wrote a beautiful piece about the Democrats, while working on the policy, including the Affordable Care Act, playing a game of “Rotating Villain.” This is a contrivance in which, just when it looks like Democrats will shape a bill to their liking, in comes one spoiler who comes off as a Rotating Villain. This was appreciated by me for better focusing on the games played by the Democratic Party, when they are empowered (and they had more seats in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate during Barack Obama’s first two years than at any point during the presidency of George W. Bush and, up to this point, Donald Trump.) Unfortunately, I did not immediately find that piece. I think Salon eliminated it deliberately. But, from a list below, are some other worthwhile pieces.
Here are more recommendations, with ten [10] each from three different publications, of excellence by Glenn Greenwald:
From Salon…
09.17.2010 — Obama’s views of liberal criticisms
09.19.2010 — The perils of false equivalencies and self-proclaimed centrism
09.23.2010 — The Democratic fear-based strategy
01.12.2011 — How propaganda poisons the mind — and our discourse
05.23.2011 — The Patriot Act and bipartisanship
11.11.2011 — Why the Washington Post won’t fire Jennifer Rubin
02.18.2012 — Repulsive progressive hypocrisy
05.31.2012 — A reminder about WikiLeaks
06.11.2012 — Leon Panetta: Macho Renaissance man
07.02.2012 — Dianne Feinstein targets press freedom
From The Guardian…
02.28.2013 — Bob Woodward embodies US political culture in a single outburst
03.10.2013 — Three Democratic myths used to demean the Paul filibuster
04.08.2013 — Margaret Thatcher and misapplied death etiquette
04.27.2013 — Bradley Manning is off limits at SF Gay Pride parade, but corporate sleaze is embraced
05.11.2013 — Debating Bill Maher on Muslims, Islam and US foreign policy
06.07.2013 — NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others
06.09.2013 — NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things' – video
06.11.2013 — The Guardian Audio Edition: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden explains his motives - 11 June 2013
06.11.2013 — Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations
From The Intercept…
01.21.2016 — The Seven Stages of Establishment Backlash: Corbyn/Sanders Edition
01.28.2016 — Paul Krugman Unironically Anoints Himself Arbiter of “Seriousness”: Only Clinton Supporters Eligible
01.31.2016 — The “Bernie Bros” Narrative: a Cheap Campaign Tactic Masquerading as Journalism and Social Activism
02.24.2016 — With Donald Trump Looming, Should Dems Take a Huge Electability Gamble by Nominating Hillary Clinton?
03.04.2016 — Donald Trump’s Policies Are Not Anathema to U.S. Mainstream, but an Uncomfortable Reflection of It
04.18.2016 — After Vote to Remove Brazil’s President, Key Opposition Figure Holds Meetings in Washington
05.11.2016 — Brazil’s Democracy to Suffer Grievous Blow as Unelectable, Corrupt Neoliberal Is Installed
09.11.2016 — Barbara Lee’s Lone Vote on Sept. 14, 2001, Was as Prescient as It Was Brave and Heroic
10.11.2016 — In the Democratic Echo Chamber, Inconvenient Truths Are Recast as Putin Plots
11.18.2016 — The Stark Contrast Between GOP’s Self-Criticism in 2012 and Democrats’ Blame-Everyone-Else Posture Now
Here are three videos, with Glenn Greenwald, related to the 2014 Oscar winning documentary feature Citizenfour:
In 2014, Glenn Greenwald guested on Free Speech TV’s Democracy Now. He spoke with host Amy Goodman about his first meeting with Edward Snowden.
Published February 26, 2015, TimesTalk’s David Carr, a media columnist for New York Times, passed away shortly after he interviewed Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald.
On February 22, 2015, Citizenfour—produced by Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky—won the 2014 Oscar for best documentary feature. Here is video from that moment…
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