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by dsuth 4140 days ago
> There's no point in praising anything the NSA does unless you are perfectly happy with them destroying security for the entire world and spying on everybody at all.

That is a ridiculously absolutist statement. Do you really stand by this? It's not possible that some things the NSA does are good and beneficial, because other aspects of that organisation are questionable?

I'm sorry, but your entire post comes off as very partisan - and quoting Greenwald plays into this as well. Hell, I am left-leaning by nature, but I've had to unfollow him on twitter recently, as he portrays everything in the worst, most dramatic light possible. Don't get caught up on the hate train.
1 comments
FeeTinesAMady 4140 days ago
Any sort of praise or tacit approval for the NSA reduces people's anger towards them. Any reduction of anger towards them helps breed complacency. This is why they would make a post like this at all. People need to be mad at them in order to want change badly enough.
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plorg 4140 days ago
This is a big story about cyberespionage. It comes out of Kaspersky Labs, a Russian company and hardly a front for the NSA. It would be surprising if the story _didn't_ make the front page, and it would be surprising to me if in a forum which prides itself on serious discussion no one would make the comment that heads this thread.

That such a comment would be the most popular suggests nothing about psyops involvement unless you assume such an opinion doesn't exist in the theater in which the conversation takes place. The suggestion of such manipulation is useless without evidence, and is therefore not an actionable accusation. It assumes by default bad faith on the part of those who disagree with you and makes actual discussion difficult or impossible.

Furthermore, such an accusation is as much of a sideshow as any manipulation you're alleging.

If, rather than making wild assumptions, you made actual counter-arguments (as many are doing above), you might convince others of what you believe to be true, and you might bring those who once disagreed with you to join in the fight on your side.

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