BuzzFlash Reviews

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Glenn Greenwald is living proof of the meritocracy of journalism on the Internet. The best commentators and writers rise to the top based on reader response. Internet scribes are not guaranteed a sinecure of mediocrity, such as David Broder and Robert Novak are in the mainstream media. Greenwald earned his now national reputation and Salon.com writing position by having something to offer: trenchant, credible analysis.

Greenwald started as one blogger among hundreds of thousands with his site "Unclaimed Territory." As a Constitutional lawyer, he quickly became a "go-to" commentator on the nuances of Bush Administration assaults on the Constitution like the outing of Valerie Plame and illegal wiretapping. Greenwald penned a book, "How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values From a President Run Amok," that received rave reviews and became a progressive bestseller.

Despite his broad appeal to BuzzFlash readers and other progressives, Greenwald is not a rabid partisan. He wields the scalpel of a keen legal mind that is frustrated with the blatant disregard of the Bush Administration for the rule of law and America's most fundamental legal foundations. In short, he in some ways is a true conservative in that he passionately believes that the Constitution should be respected, not abused.

In fact, Greenwald reminds us of the paradox that the radical right claims to be strict Constitutionalists when they are, in fact, ardent Constitutional revisionists. Greenwald respects the Constitution and the body of law that has accumulated over the past 240 years. The Bush Administration does not.

His second book, "A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency," should be another bestseller when it comes out on June 26.

On his now former site, "Unclaimed Territory," Greenwald posted our BuzzFlash interview with him and our review of his last book.

We'll take the liberty of quoting a bit from the BuzzFlash conversation with Glenn:

"Glenn Greenwald: There is room within the American political system for both conservative and liberal political ideology, for differences on issues like tax policy or social spending, or the extent to which the government should regulate private business. Those differences have always existed within the principles of this system of American government that we have. The issues that I’m writing about in my book are issues that go to what system of government we have, what the basic principles are of how we have a government, and how that government operates.

We’ve always been a country that has guaranteed to American citizens the right not to be arrested without a jury trial. We’ve always been a country that requires the President to submit to checks and balances by other branches, and to abide by the rule of law. Those principles are not conservative or liberal, and those are the ones that are under assault by the Administration."

And:

"Glenn Greenwald: The signing statement has always been controversial, but the way that it began was simply as a tool for the Executive branch to go on record saying this is how we understand this law. Then, if there was a dispute about what a law meant, and it went to the Supreme Court, the Executive branch had a way, like Congress does, of saying this is what we understand the law to mean. It has been completely distorted by this Administration. It isn’t used to say, this is what we understand the law to mean. It’s used to say, we do not have to abide by these parts of the law because we have the power to break these parts of the law.

Why hasn’t the press informed American citizens of the fact that the government is doing that? I actually believe the real reason is that what the Bush Administration is doing is so extreme, so radical, that people in the media don’t really believe they’re seriously claiming the right to break the law. That’s the only thing I can think of as to why this story isn’t getting more attention.

They’ve made the same argument in Supreme Court cases and other court cases, claiming the right of the President to act in violation of the law. This ought to be the first and most significant controversy discussed by the media, and yet it’s barely discussed at all. I think the reporters simply don’t realize how serious of a crisis it is. They just don’t believe that it’s really happening."

As you can see, Greenwald has a lot to offer. As a commentator, he's really a plaintiff's lawyer for the American Constitution and system of jurisprudence.

We're glad he's on the side of the real patriots.



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