Lots out there on the internet re his friendships with Cheney and with W Bush:
http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2008/05/story-of-the-da.html
During the ’90s, Schieffer also struck up a friendship with George W. Bush when his brother Tom—now the U.S. ambassador to Australia—became partners with the future president in the Texas Rangers. Bob and W. went to ball games together, played golf, attended spring training. “He’s a great guy—that doesn’t mean I agree with him,” says Schieffer, adding that the situation became “a little awkward” when Bush ran for the White House but that he’s never gotten favorable treatment.
What's worse, Bush not only rewarded Bob's brother Tom with the ambassadorship to Australia from 2001-2005, but later made him US ambassador to Japan,
― curmudgeon, Monday, 17 June 2013 16:08 (ten years ago) link
do you even report, bro
― i didn't even give much of a fuck that you were mod (forksclovetofu), Monday, 17 June 2013 18:26 (ten years ago) link
dave weigel of slate thinks snowden is a 'useful idiot' for red china:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/06/17/snowden_veers_into_useful_idiocy.html
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 17 June 2013 19:18 (ten years ago) link
man can someone retire that fucking phrase already
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 June 2013 19:44 (ten years ago) link
yeah, fuck this 'useful idiot' idiom. if you think he's a traitor, don't dance around it.
― Mordy , Monday, 17 June 2013 19:57 (ten years ago) link
https://medium.com/state-of-play/bb27db32ae38
Two weeks ago, when the Guardian first leaked a Verizon court order to hand over its call metadata, a national debate began about privacy and security. Since then those leaks have continued, and they still drive the conversation. But much of that initial reporting turned out to be wrong — so much, in fact, that I’m starting to wonder if it’s approaching journalistic malfeasance.
― goole, Monday, 17 June 2013 20:11 (ten years ago) link
so this turned out not to be true?http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57589495-38/nsa-spying-flap-extends-to-contents-of-u.s-phone-calls/
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 02:16 (ten years ago) link
They told Nadler he heard it wrong.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 04:21 (ten years ago) link
good post, and not just for the david simon stuff
https://blog.pinboard.in/2013/06/persuading_david_simon/
― caek, Monday, June 17, 2013 7:54 AM (Yesterday)
^^ booming post
― look at my watch/I'm in the club and everyone's looking at me/fuck th (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:33 (ten years ago) link
Can we retire the use of "traitor," too? I mean, are we at war with China? Pretty sure we're not.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 12:18 (ten years ago) link
i think you mean "red china"
― steening in your HOOSless carriage (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 12:48 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGv2wqJJmbc
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 13:05 (ten years ago) link
you don't have to be at war w/ a country for someone to commit treason on their behalf
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:02 (ten years ago) link
i don't think it's a particularly broad reading to say that snowden violated the espionage act
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:05 (ten years ago) link
P. sure there's a constitutional and legal definition of "treason" to which "violating the espionage act" doesn't even come close.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:11 (ten years ago) link
For everyone's edification though just in case.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:12 (ten years ago) link
Also: John Marshall and treason.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:16 (ten years ago) link
If only Charlie Rose had done research and then asked Obama good follow-up questions.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:17 (ten years ago) link
Charlie Rose is basically Bob Schieffer, right?
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:19 (ten years ago) link
Here is a Wikipedia list of all persons (all four of them!) convicted of spying on the US for China. None were charged with or convicted of treason.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Americans_convicted_of_spying_for_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China
Treason is, like, an actual *thing*, not a word to be thrown about lightly. We haven't convicted anyone of treason in the US for more than half a century. We didn't even charge the Rosenbergs or Alger Hiss with treason, let alone convict them.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:20 (ten years ago) link
well it's easier to convict people for other things so they don't get charged w/ treason in the first place
― iatee, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:22 (ten years ago) link
treason isn't an actual 'thing' anymore than manslaughter is
It has a degree of specificity regarding what your actions are intended to accomplish that "espionage" does not.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:31 (ten years ago) link
actually, treason is both a law and a common term
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:35 (ten years ago) link
anyone is within their right to judge an act as treasonous even if it isn't strictly legally so by united states standards
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
So is "rape" but I advise against its usage in casual conversation. xp
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:37 (ten years ago) link
that's a good example. plenty of rapists are not convicted as such by the united states legal system.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:38 (ten years ago) link
and I advise you telling someone they weren't raped if the dude wasn't charged legally xp
― iatee, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:38 (ten years ago) link
against
u guys think there'll be Snowden Halloween costumes?
― ballin' from Maine to Mexico (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:39 (ten years ago) link
Was Jonathan Pollard a traitor?
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
I'm going as his gf xp
― iatee, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
yes, duh xp
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:41 (ten years ago) link
xxp I also advise against describing people convicted of or charged with sex offenses that don't rise to the level of rape as "rapists." If a dude whips his dick out on the subway and waves it at you, he may be guilty of sexual battery or another charge, but he's not a rapist.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:42 (ten years ago) link
xp he was? So Israel is an enemy of ours now, is it?
lotsa hardcore patriots on ILX all of a sudden, whippin' out treason charges left and right
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:43 (ten years ago) link
obviously my position is that supplying classified state secrets to anyone is treasonous, not just countries we are at war with.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:44 (ten years ago) link
except when they are legit whistleblowing. i'd say the NSA disclosure wasn't treasonous. the G-20 leak was.
blowing the whistle...of treason
― iatee, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
I think even questioning whether it was treason is sorta treasonous
To anyone? Even to, say, a US journalist?
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
hardcore patriots? dude told russia + turkey that we were spying on them. there was no reason to disclose that information except to undermine the US espionage program. i don't think you have to be a hardcore patriot to find that treasonous.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
If Russia's and Turkey's real, not-for-PR-purposes reaction to this news was anything but a sarcastic "No shit," I'll eat my hat.
― This amigurumi Jamaican octopus is ready to chill with you (Phil D.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link
oh okay bc they weren't surprised then it's totes cool
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:50 (ten years ago) link
i guess i'm just not enough of an free information radical. but to answer your other question - if someone leaked the names of undercover agents to a US newspaper, I'd consider that treasonous. whether that rises to the level where the government would (or should) prosecute them under a treason statute is an entirely other thing.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:51 (ten years ago) link
― Mordy , Tuesday, June 18, 2013 10:36 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
can't hear you, you're backtracking too fast
i mean come on dude
― look at my watch/I'm in the club and everyone's looking at me/fuck th (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link
it's not treason unless they were working on behalf of a foreign power
― goole, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:55 (ten years ago) link
not that it really matters, i guess. though treason proper is a capital crime and i don't think violating the espionage statue(s) is
it's a loose term. lots of countries define it differently. we happen to have a very strict definition of the term in the united states (plus an espionage act that covers a lot of what other countries might call treason). i don't think i need to not use the term bc of this legal coincidence.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:55 (ten years ago) link
ethel + julius were charged under violating espionage act no?
― Mordy , Tuesday, 18 June 2013 14:56 (ten years ago) link