Quote

Secrecy is the linchpin of abuse of power, . . . its enabling force. Transparency is the only real antidote.

Glenn Greenwald

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Glenn Greenwald
Age: 57
Born: 1967
Born: March 6
Blogger
Journalist
Lawyer
Pundit
Writer
Queens
New York
Glenn Edward Greenwald
Power
Linchpin
Real
Enabling
Transparency
Antidote
Secrecy
Abuse
Force
Political

More quotes by Glenn Greenwald

Image
It is always unconscionable for the government to punish people for expressing an idea merely because government officials - or the majority of citizens - decide that those ideas are 'dangerous' or 'wrong.' That is a power nobody ought to possess.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Having the career of the beloved CIA Director and the commanding general in Afghanistan instantly destroyed due to highly invasive and unwarranted electronic surveillance is almost enough to make one believe not only that there is a god, but that he is an ardent civil libertarian.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
A key purpose of journalism is to provide an adversarial check on those who wield the greatest power by shining a light on what they do in the dark, and informing the public about those acts.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Incestuous, homogeneous fiefdoms of self-proclaimed expertise are always rank-closing and mutually self-defending, above all else.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
When people in power can operate in the dark, inevitably they abuse that power. So, you need outside forces to bring light and transparency to what they're doing. And, one of the ways you do that is through journalism, and through guaranteeing a free press. That is its purpose, to provide a check on those who wield power.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
I know it's a really hard concept to process, but the fact that Govt accuses someone of being a Terrorist doesn't mean they are.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
It is hard to imagine having a government more secretive than the United States. Virtually everything that government does, of any significance, is conducted behind an extreme wall of secrecy. The very few leaks that we’ve had over the last decade are basically the only ways that we’ve had to learn what our government is doing.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
The ultimate test of a society's freedom is not how it treats its good, obedient, compliant citizens it's how it treats its dissidents.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
The key question: will the NSA continue to monitor hundreds of millions of people without any suspicion? Under Obama's proposals: Yes.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
The term propaganda rings melodramatic and exaggerated, but a press that—whether from fear, careerism, or conviction—uncritically recites false government claims and reports them as fact, or treats elected officials with a reverence reserved for royalty, cannot be accurately described as engaged in any other function.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Terrorism': the word that means nothing, yet justifies everything.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
To permit surveillance to take root on the Internet would mean subjecting virtually all forms of human interaction, planning, and even thought itself to comprehensive state examination.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Terrorist', noun: 1. Someone my government tells me is a terrorist 2. Someone my President decides to kill.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
The same president who has insisted that core moralism drives him has brought America to its lowest moral standing in history.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Many of the most important stories in the history of modern journalism have come from sources who have taken information without authorization.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
[N]othing is less reliable than unchecked claims from political officials that their secret conduct is justified by National Security Threats and the desire to Keep Us Safe.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
It’s just simply the fact that the NSA does not think anybody should be able to communicate anywhere on the Earth without them being able to invade it.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Those [American Jews] who favor the [Israeli] attack on Gaza are certainly guilty of such overwhelming emotional and cultural attachment to Israel and Israelis, that they long ago ceased viewing this conflict with any remnant of objectivity.
Glenn Greenwald
Image
Beyond all the other reasons not to do it, free speech assaults always backfire: they transform bigots into martyrs.
Glenn Greenwald