“America no longer has a functioning democracy,” said former President Jimmy Carter. The former President was criticizing the NSA program exposed by Edward Snowden. He made his remarks discussing the intelligence service, and condemning its actions.
Edward Snowden’s revelations are proving useful, said Carter, because “they inform the public.”
Mr. Carter’s remarks were made in Atlanta, while speaking before the ‘Atlantic Bridge,’ a non-profit organization to enhance relations between the United States and Germany.
Der Spiegel first reported on the remarks:
Der ehemalige US-Präsident Jimmy Carter hat im Nachgang des NSA-Spähskandals
das amerikanische politische System heftig kritisiert. "Amerika hat
derzeit keine funktionierende Demokratie", sagte Carter am Dienstag bei
einer Veranstaltung der "Atlantik-Brücke" in Atlanta.
Narayn Lakshman (The Hindu) sounds a cautionary note, reminding that Der Spiegel is the source everyone is working from at this point and no other outlet has offered reporting from Atlanta on the remarks.
Throwing caution to the wind, Sean Brady (Carbonated TV) invents a narrative where Jimmy Carter is in a constant effort to win over people and support in his post-presidency and these remarks may hurt him with the left. What a load of crap.
Jimmy Carter is looked on fondly by most leftists -- not just Democrats. As one of the few on the left who openly criticizes Carter, I know that. Point out reality, not conjecture, about Carter that does not fit the Brave Jimmy story and prepare for the online bricks to be hurled. If I write about the reality of the Carter White House in terms of my visits to it in real time, there's similar outrage. (A friend has done the same in book form and apparently gets away with it -- she and I have discussed this -- because she makes it very clear that she thinks well and fondly of Carter. I don't hate Jimmy but if I'm going to write about him here, I'm going to hold him to the same standard I do others.)
Having invented one narrative, Brady rushes in with another:
The Snowden NSA affair has divided the liberals between leftists who consider him a hero for whistleblowing the NSA's massive spying operation on American citizens, while more moderate liberals condemn him as a traitor and for selling out the country, with a smaller faction remaining neutral while attacking Snowden's escape from the country rather than face trial. Never has the liberals been so heavily divided on a national matter.
Really? The left has never been so heavily divided on a national matter?
I didn't realize infants were now typing.
Most of us who are adults can remember many issues with loud and ugly splits. Yes, on domestic issues.
After the 2004 election, for example, a large number of male bloggers and pundits pushed for the Democrats to retreat from abortion rights. We called that out here in real time and the reaction was tremendous with a large number of e-mails saying 'We would be winning elections if we could just ditch the abortion issue' and an even larger number of e-mails agreeing that if the Dems sold out on that issue there would be little reason to support the party any longer.
That was a loud and vocal split. Where were you Sean Brady?
I also don't see the left split that Brady claims exists on Ed Snowden.
Among the pundit class, it appears Ed Snowden has no support but when you leave the whores of MSNBC, you're back in the real world.
In the real world, the left has a wide array of feelings on the topic, as is often the case. This go round it's got a lot to do, for some, with 'protecting' Barack Obama. We've already seen the hideous In These Times -- a Socialist magazine started to tell the truth, to offer reality -- feature the craven words of a craven 'labor activist' that supporting Ed Snowden was helping the Tea Party [gasp, apparently, implied].
This group will have spent the entire 8 years Barack has been in the White House shielding their little baby. It's because of these dumb asses that we have to go beyond mere criticism and hit hard from the left. I had to do that in speaking with regards to Bully Boy Bush (in the month before the Iraq War started and in the months after) so I'm used to it. But I'm honestly sick of these people -- who exist in the Republican Party and in the Democratic Party -- who refuse to value their citizenship or own their rights because they've fallen in love with an Oval Office occupant. If I were putting out a book today, I'd call it: Today We're All Peggy Noonan because, certainly, the last years have proven that a segment of the left can be as ridiculous as some Republicans were under Bully Boy Bush as they justified -- with lust in their eyes -- every illegal activity he pursued.
Polls demonstrate a large group of Americans consider Ed Snowden a whistle-blower. When you look at the political identification in those polls, you find the Libertarian right-wing and you find the left. The left portion is larger than the Libertarian right-wing in the poll because it is larger in the general public. (The right is composed of many groupings of which the Libertarian right is only one aspect.) You would not get the large left portion if there was not wide support on the left.
Sean Brady may get all of his 'facts' via TV. If so, the MSNBC prime time line has been, "Ed Snowden evil." But the reality is Joy Reid is a nobody. Melissa Harris will always be a nobody. Rachel Maddow continues to sink in the ratings, etc.
None of these people are, for example, a Phil Donahue. Phil came to MSNBC an established voice with a large audience. You don't get that with MSNBC these days and you won't. They'd rather hire these nobodies who will toe the corporate line than risk dealing with an actual voice for some segment of the population. (I'm no fan of Keith Olbermann's -- as is long established here and at Third -- but Keith was another example of someone who was established and came to the network with a following and with a determination to use his own voice.)
The notion that the left is three groups -- two more or less equal groups divided on Ed Snowden and a third group who is outraged he left the country?
Where's the data, Sean Brady?
It doesn't exist.
Chad Abraham (Aspen Daily News) reports the ACLU's Anthony Romero remarked on Snowden at the Aspen Security Forum:
“I’ve been watching this whole debate about Edward Snowden,” Romero said. “I think he did this country a service ... by [jump-starting] a debate that was anemic, that was left to government officials where people did not understand fully what was happening.”
There is now a vigorous public debate, six lawsuits about the NSA program have been filed, and Congress is holding hearings about the issue, he said.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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