So we are seeing a new stage in the propaganda

[nadinbrzezinski]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/24/wonkbook-does-edward-snowden-even-exist/

And now it is literally making this man a non person.

Ezra Klein is going to a strange place and assumes a very strange conspiracy theory, that assumes the Guardian and Wiki Leaks are part of the conspiracy. Lord, I tend to respect Ezra but he is asking readers to take an incredible leap here.

This has moved from The Bourne Conspiracy to the Invisible Man.

Granted, I do understand it. A few men, and it is mostly men...are keeping ahead of the over reaching security apparatus. This is proving well...embarrassing.

My theory, we have seen the monster, and how ineffective it can be. (You can bet your sweet everything that Snowden is using advanced encryption and security protocols. Perhaps, for the moment completely dropped off and now we have carrier pigeons.)

These are the things that make you go hmmm...

And nope, it is not about him, but the issues raised by the leaks...but this has become...quite brutally honest a hell of a spy thriller. Suffice it to say, I suspect Asange said the truth when he said he knew where he was. My personal view, not in Moscow anymore.

Fun fact, he is not traveling under US papers. Those refugee papers issued by Ecuador, if they are like most refugee papers, also tend to hide the identity of the traveller.

But hey, let's talk of thinthread, which according to Bimmey could have stopped 911, was developed in house and was dropped by Hayden since it kept his private sector friends off the feeding through. He tried hard to tell Congress...for that his life and reputation was destroyed. Same for Thomas Frank and other secrets of the state.

Anyhoo...this path is novel.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Heh, that will present a dilemma for the authoritarian apologists here who

are also rabidly allergic to conspiracy theororizing. Oh wait, it won't trouble them at all.

[geek tragedy]

10. Except that . . .

(Editor’s note for the literal minded: It is not, in fact, all too perfect, and this column is not actually suggesting Edward Snowden isn’t real. It’s just a conceit to make a larger point.)

Derp.

[Enrique]

2. I think I get his "larger point"

and I agree with it. You could extend it and ask if Obama really exists, or George Bush, or Dick Cheney.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. For that matter me.

Ten years on and you have been talking with an advanced AI created at a cave....err research lab.

For that matter you.

Granted, and it's been done before, good premise for sci fi.

[kentuck]

14. In other words...

a diversion.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Exactly

So we should start talking thinthread

[starroute]

19. If Edward Snowden didn't exist,they would have had to invent him

(As Voltaire said about God...)

The point being that Snowden has provided a convenient diversion from the real issues.

But so far, at least, "convenient" doesn't necessary equate to "conspiracy." There are a lot of opportunists out there, and they know an opening when they see one.

[MattFromKY]

3. No more of a "strange conspiracy theory" than suggesting...

The government used a remote control to steer Michael Hastings into a tree.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Alas on a technical level it is possible.

And you know what gets my hmmm question mark on that one? Investigations like this crash usually take weeks, if not months. 24 hours after the crash we were told there is nothing to see here.

I'll scratch my questions on tt, albeit not the conclusion, on some weird shit I saw as a much younger person.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. In fairness it is the toxicology report that takes weeks.

But nobody should be saying anything until that is complete.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. infinitieth dimensional chess?

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Nah, just bubble thinking

They have not been able to kill the questions. And yes, the beltway thinks we are that stupid

[marions ghost]

15. "The beltway thinks we are that stupid"

ha ha -- yes they do.

But we aren't.

[geek tragedy]

9. My favorite part from Klein's column:

Editor’s note for the literal minded: It is not, in fact, all too perfect, and this column is not actually suggesting Edward Snowden isn’t real. It’s just a conceit to make a larger point

But whereas those stories might, in another world, be leading a journalistic feeding frenzy and creating a relentless drumbeat for further revelations, in this world, it’s Operation: Snowden that has managed to capture the imagination of the American people (or at least the people interested in political news). It’s Operation: Snowden that’s leading every news homepage and cable broadcast in the world right now. The effort has even neutralized journalistic resources that could’ve been devoted to the larger NSA stories (the poor reporters who got on the flight to Havana won’t be able to turn around for three days, for instance). Operation: Snowden has become the NSA story.

So of course Snowden wasn’t on that plane. He couldn’t have been. If he’d disappeared into Cuba the Snowden story would be over and all that would be left is the NSA story. And that’s not the plan.

[kentuck]

11. I think people may be played by the Chinese press?

I'm not sure the quotes attributed to Snowden are correct? It depends on whether you dislike Snowden enough to believe whatever is said, even from a Chinese source.

[Lindsay]

12. I've wondered about that

myself. Hard to know who to trust for valid information any more, with some notable exceptions who've proven themselves over time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. That was from a presser relayed by The Guardian

Who have been live blogging the whole thing.

Think about it...the NSA has no clue where he is...or the myriad of alphabet soups. But the Guardian is live blogging this. (Why I suspect he's dropped off the electronic world).

If I wrote this as a book and tried to sell it...often truth is stranger than fiction.

[bananas]

17. The USDA Treason 101 thread reminded me of "The Invisible Man" TV show

where the Dept of Fish and Games was used as cover for a secret agency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Man_%282000_TV_series%29

The Invisible Man (2000 TV series)
Original channel Sci-Fi Channel
Original run June 9, 2000 – February 1, 2002

The plot revolves around Darien Fawkes (Ventresca), a thief facing life imprisonment who was recruited by a low-rent spy organization and given the power of invisibility via implantation of a special "Quicksilver gland" in his head.

<snip>

The Agency[edit]

The Agency is a U.S. government espionage and special operations agency, but one that is extremely secretive – so much that it doesn't have a proper name. Charlie Borden (known as "The Official&quot , the director of The Agency, explained that the organization takes on cases that the other agencies "can't, won't, or don't". References in the show point to the Agency as being a "Cold War relic", which makes it likely that The Agency was founded during that time.

The most curious characteristic of The Agency is how it keeps being "absorbed" by Federal Departments that are completely unrelated to intelligence. During the first season, The Agency was a division of the fictional federal "Department of Fish and Game." In the pilot episode, it was explained this was due to the fact that at the time the Department of Defense was having budget cuts while the DFG had a surplus of money.

During the second season, The Agency changed departments several times, having been absorbed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, and (very briefly) the United States Postal Service before settling in the fictional Bureau of Weights and Measures. All of this led to a running gag in which Hobbes and Fawkes are never taken seriously as federal agents, since their identifications always include their department name.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023079629

Holy Shit !!! - The USDA Actually Posted It On The Web !!! - 'Treason 101'

Found through McClatchey (Left-side, Scroll own): http://www.mcclatchydc.com/

Link: http://www.dm.usda.gov/ocpm/Security%20Guide/Treason/Intro.htm

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. It's like all those gags..have become real

[sad-cafe]

20. interesting

,