For nearly a year now, since the Edward Snowden story broke and became a global sensation, I’ve repeatedly invited Glenn Greenwald to debate me about NSA and related matters. He has consistently refused; readers may draw their own conclusions as to why that might be.
Glenn’s been all over the media recently pushing his new book about himself and Ed, and earlier this week I appeared on Al Jazeera America to debate Glenn, in a manner of speaking. His appearance was taped while mine was live. The segment (click here) is long and consists mainly of Glenn doing his well-honed I-am-saving-the-world-from-NSA act, and I don’t appear until 23:00 to offer a brief rebuttal to Glenn’s more obviously false claims.
I want to thank Al Jazeera America for giving me the chance to appear, and for having on the whole a solid effort to address this subject in an adult fashion. Enjoy, since this is probably the closest I will get to debating Glenn, as he keeps dodging my offers.
The XX Committee 
Glenn will never debate you. He only chooses targets that are weak and vulnerable. It’s so obvious yet most media people give him a pass, which is a mystery to me.
I have come to the same conclusion, alas.
Thank you for posting this. I only wish you were given more of a platform, as you seem to be the clearest/most concise in response to Glenn’s rapidfire misinfo.
PS- Good job catching yourself before saying “Stalin Holoc-“. People love to latch on to one (rhetorical) thing and ignore the substance.
Thanks….I do what I can with the time granted!
Really nice to hear the other side of the story now the incessant screeching of (most) of the media has died down. Internet savvy? IT support = Electronic janitor / groundskeeper, I know, I have been there….sure you get to know a lot of stuff about UNIX/SQL/Active Directory/etc but you are still just keeping things tidy and ticking along!
It was probably good that you were not interviewed along side Greenwald, as I was told once “a wise man should never argue with an idiot in public, bystanders might not be able to tell one from the other”
Keep up with the great analysis and comments!
Thanks for the kind words!
The half-life of Glenn Greenwald’s relevance has already passed. A year from now, he will be out of the news. The news itself will change and no one will want to hear what he has to say about it. He’s spent; people have moved on. Do you think another Snowden is ever going to approach Greenwald (or Poitras)?
Good rebuttal. You’re quick on your feet, as one needs to be for television.
Thanks….Ed’s in Russia while Glenn, et al, are rich and famous. Can’t feel good.
His goals and intentions were debatable before seeing this interview, but the moment he called him a “Special Operative” he lost all semblance of objectivity and clearly fell into the self-promotion / wants-to-live-as-a-spy part of the spectrum.
I feel like this could have all been avoided if the NSA had a “live a day as a spy” program, where the real world had been explained to them and made them feel special, Greenwald and Snowden alike.
I’ve heard worse ideas …
Comparison to Walter Duranty discredits you on this particular topic. Love the Ukraine analysis though.
I will agree to disagree, thanks. BTW Duranty was much more a legit journalist than Greenwald will ever be – he was also a Soviet apologist during the worst of Stalin’s crimes.
In debate, a master of sophistry will win against a student of logos, hands down, every time. That’s why Greenwald and Putin are so effective. Russians, a minority of Europeans who believe the US invented AIDS and is behind every evil, and Americans who believe Obama is Muslim, eat that sh** up.