Repost from March. Greenwald defends himself from those who say he supported Bush and Iraq. [View all]

[madfloridian]

Since there are so many assaults today on the character of Glenn Greenwald, it is time to repost his own words. He deserves to have his own words heard. Give him that much.

Before 2004, I had been politically indifferent. Believed govt insulated from real abuse.

Those are not my words. But that just about describes how I was politically before the Iraq invasion. So I understand someone who claims they were apathetic politically at the time.

What is interesting is that these are the words of Glenn Greenwald when he defended himself from so many of the attacks on him. Here are his words from the preface of his 2006 book "How Would a Patriot Act?"

Every time his name is mentioned here it is said he supported the Iraq invasion. Just like many other once respected lefty bloggers he is now condemned.

Our country is at a profound crossroads. We must decide whether we want to adhere to the values and principles that have made our country free, strong, and great for the 217 years since our Constitution was ratified, or whether we will relinquish those values and fundamentally change who we are, all in the name of seeking protection from terrorism. I genuinely believe that we are extremely lucky to be the beneficiaries of a system of government that uniquely protects our individual liberties and allows us a life free of tyranny and oppression. It is incumbent upon all Americans who believe in that system, bequeathed to us by the founders, to defend it when it is under assault and in jeopardy. And today it is.

I did not arrive at these conclusions eagerly or because I was predisposed by any previous partisan viewpoint. Quite the contrary.

....I never voted for George W. Bush — or for any of his political opponents. I believed that voting was not particularly important. Our country, it seemed to me, was essentially on the right track. Whether Democrats or Republicans held the White House or the majorities in Congress made only the most marginal difference. . . .

I firmly believed that our democratic system of government was sufficiently insulated from any real abuse, by our Constitution and by the checks and balances afforded by having three separate but equal branches of government. My primary political belief was that both parties were plagued by extremists who were equally dangerous and destructive, but that as long as neither extreme acquired real political power, our system would function smoothly and more or less tolerably. For that reason, although I always paid attention to political debates, I was never sufficiently moved to become engaged in the electoral process. I had great faith in the stability and resilience of the constitutional republic that the founders created.

There was a post last year at Daily Kos which referenced a blog post in which Greenwald defended himself on many positions. I had been searching for that post, but that blog site apparently is defunct.

Here are some quotes of his from the DKos post.

Glenn Greenwald Responds to Widespread Lies About Him

These claim are absolutely false. They come from a complete distortion of the Preface I wrote to my own 2006 book, How Would a Patriot Act? That book - which was the first book devoted to denouncing the Bush/Cheney executive power theories as radical and lawless - was published a mere six months after I began blogging, so the the purpose of the Preface was to explain where I had come from, why I left my law practice to begin writing about politics, and what my political evolution had been..

The whole point of the Preface was that, before 2004, I had been politically apathetic and indifferent - except for the work I was doing on constitutional law. That's because, while I had no interest in the fights between Democrats and Republicans, I had a basic trust in the American political system and its institutions, such that I devoted my attention and energies to preventing constitutional violations rather than political debates.

.....When the Iraq War was debated and then commenced, I was not a writer. I was not a journalist. I was not politically engaged or active. I never played any role in political debates or controversies. Unlike the countless beloved Democrats who actually did support the war - including Obama's Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - I had no platform or role in politics of any kind.

I never once wrote in favor of the Iraq War or argued for it in any way, shape or form. Ask anyone who claims that I "supported" the Iraq War to point to a single instance where I ever supported or defended it in any way. There is no such instance. It's a pure fabrication.

You really should read the rest of the very long DKos post. It covers many areas in which he defends himself.

There is not any one single author or reporter who gets it right every time. I do not ever agree with any one person all the time.

But now it is hard to post any work of any writer who is or has been critical of President Obama's policies. I really never thought about that happening on Democratic forums.