I've read here a dozen times today that DU is an echo chamber, has no wider impact, etc.

[JDPriestly]

80. Yes. The DU dissidents who were criticized for daring to tell the truth about the importance of

Snowden's revelations and documents and the dangers of the NSA program are now being supported by the people in many countries of the world and by the leaders of many other countries. The world is watching. And DU is where people who are unaware of what the world thinks about what it is seeing were able to preview that world opinion right here on DU.

There are news sources that just print what people want to see, just say what people want to hear. They are useless. You cannot limit your news to the American sources. Even MSNBC does not have a wide enough, free enough view of things. I haven't seen Maddow's reaction to this surveillance scandal. Did she even mention it?

So DU is a place where people can respond to the news in real time. We don't have to be professional or polished about our posts. That is freeing.

Digression: I'm reading (slowly) a memoir of Theodore White, famous as the author of The Making of the President on JFK's campaign. He was Henry Luce's Time reporter in China during WWII. He tells about his rift with Luce. Luce censored in a way (stronger word maybe than appropriate) White's reports on Chiang Kai Shek and Mao. White saw Mao as someone to be dealt with and Chiang Kai Shek as a weak leader who would ultimately fail us. White was right. Stilwell agreed with White and was relieved of command of the army in China. That was a huge mistake. You will often hear the expression, like Stillwell in China. I learned from this book what that means.

Back on topic: We on DU are in the position that White would have liked to have been. We talk about what we really think. We don't have to please a publisher or an employer or the government. That is why we need a free internet and the right to communicate freely.

I give a big thanks to Edward Snowden for outing the surveillance program.