Screw it all

I unexpectedly ended up offline all day. I'm cruising the headlines and see it's outrage city out there. Everybody all hyped up about anonymous leaks regarding domestic surveillance and all I can say is if we had seen this level of hysteria when Bush was caught doing this crap without a warrant, the damn program would never have been continued. It was all about respect for the office, and support the War President then and Downing St memos? WTF did they know?

I see a bunch of loose and unverified rumors being eagerly pushed by people who trade in outrage for a living. I see a media who's been pissed at our current President from day one for making them work too damm hard to get sound bytes hyping a torrent of sudden leaks without any skepticism whatsoever. And I see every major internet carrier who is allegedly allowing the government free and unfettered access to their servers vigorously denying the rumors.

As Steve M. points out this is all pretty fucking convenient for China. And for Glenn Greenwald, who just happens to be in Hong Kong instead of Brazil right now. Odd coincidence. And I'd add the internets tell me three days ago Greenwald was begging for readers to send him money, and then suddenly he has a huge scoop that gets him tons of attention after nearly everyone has ignored him for months on end and he's all over the teevee for the first time in years. But by all means, let's just take every anonymous leak as gospel because leakers never have an agenda. No one in the media has ever prematurely pushed a story without vetting it into the news stream simply to win a damn cycle. (See Boston Marathon bombing.) And of course, the media has never been burned by these anonymous leakers. Just ask Jon Karl. Or Judith Miller.

I'll probably be less incredulous about it all tomorrow but right now I'm tired, cranky, and sick of instant outrage born of unproven rumors. I'm done for the day.