Revenge of the Nerds

Local Eyewitness News: Lawlessness in Taos. Friction reporter just saw, about 3:20 pm., two young 20-somethings, possibly Hispanic males driving a Blue open Jeep, stealing Jeff Northrup’s protest signs…Cops called. Northrup making report. Friction recommends calling security guard at Don Fernando’s or a car salesman for permission to investigate, due to probable cause. 

National News

Remember the tall thin kid, who sat in the back and stared at his iPhone or desk top computer, the one who wore glasses and everyone made fun of,  who couldn’t get a date? Well, he’s back and if he’s not pointing an automatic weapon at helpless moviegoers or small children, he’s unleashing digital files in order to embarrass the government: Aurora, Sandy Hook, WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, and now Edward Snowden.

Beware the mild mannered geek. You can’t run Silicon Valley or the National Security Administration without him and he’s got you by the digital doodads. And if you ain’t looking he’ll grab an automatic weapon and emerge from peer-group censure and blast his way into fifteen minutes of Warholian fame. Blame the parents, blame the man, but don’t blame a corrupt society wherein the leaders lie to Senators and Congressmen on national television, then call white black and black white.

Hey, Mr. Snowden is playing three-dimensional chess with the U.S., China, and now Russia. Tomorrow, who knows? Cuba, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Globalization has consequences but not the kind envisioned by our corporate-government masters. We all enjoy watching small fry beard the emperors, who have lost their shirts and stand before us, naked and vulnerable to laughter. Here’s a couple of pieces from the paper of record.

“Mr. Snowden’s departure from Hong Kong punctuated a day of frustration and embarrassment for American officials whose unsuccessful quest so far to have him arrested has now placed the United States in awkward situations with governments on at least three continents.”–NYT, 6.23.13

And the consequences…

“Given the history of misused “secrets” in Washington, such questions are by no means paranoid. J. Edgar Hoover used F.B.I. investigations and files to smear the reputations of individuals — even to the point of intimidating presidents. Throughout the government, “security” monitors leaked personnel files to Congressional demagogues like Senator Joseph R. McCarthy to wreck the careers of officials and blacklisted citizens with claims of disloyalty. President Lyndon B. Johnson and other officials used secret files from the Internal Revenue Service to harass and intimidate political opponents. President Richard M. Nixon tried to use the C.I.A. to cover up his Watergate crimes.

“Information that is gathered and managed in secret is a potent weapon — and the temptation to use it in political combat or the pursuit of crimes far removed from terrorism can be irresistible.” Max Frankel, NYT, 6.23.13

Meanwhile, according to the Times, “Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, accused Mr. Snowden of leaks that have done “irreversible damage” to American intelligence efforts against terrorism and other threats.” And James Clapper, head of National Intelligence, that darling Santa figure, has been caught lying to Congress, where liars go to refine the art of dissembling. And whose on first? Why haven’t these guys resigned? You can’t blame the messenger for telling the truth when you’ve been lying to one and all. Everyone’s listening and watching a movie in real time that’s far far bigger than Superman, Zombies, and Monsters.