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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

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Glenn Greenwald
Age: 57
Born: 1967
Born: March 6
Blogger
Journalist
Lawyer
Pundit
Writer
Queens
New York
Glenn Edward Greenwald
Public
Check
Dark
Checks
Purpose
Journalism
Light
Acts
Power
Provide
Shining
Adversarial
Keys
Wield
Greatest
Informing

More quotes by Glenn Greenwald

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The many pro-surveillance advocates I have debated since Snowden blew the whistle have been quick to echo [Google CEO] Eric Schmidt's view that privacy is for people who have something to hide. But none of them would willingly give me the passwords to their email accounts, or allow video cameras in their homes.
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You can offer the ability to citizens to choose from one of the two parties and elect their leaders as much as you want. But democracy is an illusion - a sham - if the most significant acts taken by those leaders are kept concealed from the citizenry.
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[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.
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Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower Behind the NSA Surveillance Revelations
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The single most remarkable (and revealing) fact of the Obama presidency may very well be the lack of a single prosecution of Wall Street executives for the massive fraud that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis.
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The bottom layer of the right-wing noise machine.
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The definition of an extreme authoritarian is one who is willing blindly to assume that government accusations are true without any evidence presented or opportunity to contest those accusations.
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[I]f you want instant, reflexive support for the US government's police and military powers, MSNBC is the place to turn these days.
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An elite class that is free to operate without limits - whether limits imposed by the rule of law or fear of the responses from those harmed by their behavior - is an elite class that will plunder, degrade, and cheat at will, and act endlessly to fortify its own power.
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When journalists are 'accused' of being 'advocates', that means: challenging and deviating from DC orthodoxies.
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What I do know is that Charlie Hebdo cartoonists have been converted into the closest thing the West has to religious-like martyrs in the war against radical Islam, which means that anything short of pure reverence for them generates tribal rage and vilification.
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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.
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The more fear confrontational activism can put into the heart of the political class, the better.
Glenn Greenwald
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A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.
Glenn Greenwald
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Incestuous, homogeneous fiefdoms of self-proclaimed expertise are always rank-closing and mutually self-defending, above all else.
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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.
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We should not be comfortable or content in a society where the only way to remain free of surveillance and repression is if we make ourselves as unthreatning, passive, and compliant as possible.
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Only In America can a renowned and devoted terrorism supporter like Peter King be the arbiter of national security and treason.
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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.
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It's so much easier to debate people when you can pretend that they hold moronic position that they don't actually believe.
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