Glenn Greenwald Is A Bit Naive, Isn't He?

Or...maybe that's just what he wants you to think:

Before getting to the merits of all this, I must say: I simply do not understand how someone who decides to become a journalist then devotes his energy to urging that the government be empowered to ban and criminalize certain ideas and imprison those who express them. Of all people who would want the state empowered to criminalize ideas, wouldn't you think people who enter journalism would be the last ones advocating that?

Well, no, Glenn, I wouldn't. And unlike Longrider, I'm not so sure you really get it, either...

How do people get so convinced of their own infallibility that they want to arrogate to themselves the power not merely to decree which views are wrong, but to use the force of the state to suppress those views and punish people for expressing them?

Gosh. It's a mystery, all right...

Maybe he just hasn't been at the 'Guardian' for very long?

If It's Not Your Job, Whose Is It?

Croydon Council chief executive Jon Rouse has come under fire for suggesting it was not his job to be scrutinised by the press as he asked for journalists to leave a community meeting.

Journalists were last night told to leave the meeting in West Croydon after Mr Rouse, said he felt "uncomfortable" with their presence.

I guess nearly £250k a year doesn't buy much these days:

Mr Rouse, whose renumeration to run the council last year was £248,362 including pension contributions, told the meeting after his arrival: "I just feel uncomfortable about this situation. It's not appropriate for an officer to be placed in this position. It is going to be a very different meeting if the press are here.

"It is not my job to place myself in a position in which I have to defend council policy and have my words scrutinised and reported on by the press. That is the place of our democratically elected politicians."

Hey, nothing to hide, nothing to fear, eh Mr Rouse?