You, too, can become a slacker spy!

[struggle4progress]

by Roger Simon
June 12, 2013 12:09 AM

... Snowden, 29, and possessing all the qualifications to become a grocery bagger, instead gets hired by the National Security Agency as a security guard, after dropping out of high school and the Army.

This naturally brings him to the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency, which hires him and sends him to Geneva, Switzerland, with diplomatic cover and a high security clearance.

With all that on his resume, he gets scooped up by defense contractor colossus Booz Allen Hamilton, which assigns him to work at an NSA facility in Hawaii for a reported $200,000 per year. This allows Snowden to rent a house near the beach for him and his girlfriend.

Some would think this is not a bad life for a guy who has been a total slacker. But this is not what Snowden thinks. He has still not saved the world or become an international celebrity ...

http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/22871948/article-You--too--can-become-a-slacker-spy-?instance=special%20_coverage_right_column

[DisgustipatedinCA]

1. The Politico guy who says Obama will be impeached over Benghazi? Neat.

[struggle4progress]

2. Are you perhaps confusing Politico's Roger Simon with PJ Media's Roger L Simon?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

4. I could be. I wasn't aware there are 2 Roger Simons who are journalists

[struggle4progress]

5. Well, if you convince me I've accidentally linked to a rapid rightwinger, I'd self-delete

[ucrdem]

3. Well, I can't see either of the previous 2 replies so I'm glad DU ignore is working, lol.

Anyway Snowden's bio sounds as bogus as his tale of being able to dial up anybody's anything from his personal PC. Why people are falling for this silly stunt I don't know. But a stunt it surely is.

[pinboy3niner]

6. His mom is an IT professional

So, despite his lack of academic training, he may have had some cyberepertise learned at home.

[struggle4progress]

8. Could be. But he seems to have lied about his salary; it would be most odd

if (as he claims) he were posted to Geneva under diplomatic cover by the CIA within about two years of being enrolled in community college courses, where he never got any degree or certification; and his assertion that he had the authority to wiretap anybody and everybody from his desk doesn't smell right to me -- so right now I'm inclined to sprinkle lots and lots of salt on whatever he says

[joshcryer]

25. Yeah, I was a self-taught programmer / IT guy.

Reminds me of this.

[pinboy3niner]

29. !

[olddots]

7. the guy is an enigma wrapped in boring

it seems odd that people from his past aren't being interviewed by Wolfy Shitzer already .

[ucrdem]

9. LOL.

How many months of coaching did it take Greenwald and Poitras to get him ready for the cameras? Five? Poitras incidentally is a "filmmaker":

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/documentary-filmmaker-laura-poitras-helped-565699

[Marr]

10. Some people really want to talk about the leaker, and not what he leaked.

I still don't see the point in discussing Snowden at all, unless possibly to point out that our domestic spying operations must be ridiculously bloated if they're hiring people with zero qualifications.

[struggle4progress]

12. His honesty and character may affect the credibility of his interpretations of what he leaked

[Marr]

14. The controversy as I've understood it is based around the documents he leaked, not his personal

claims.

[struggle4progress]

17. If he isn't portraying himself accurately, then there ought to be some question about

the provenance of the documents he provides

For example, one of the first documents released was a slide presentation: I myself don't really know whether it came from inside the government or whether it was produced by a contractor -- and if Snowden isn't squeaky-clean-honest, I perhaps also need to wonder whether he might have modified it in any way before releasing it

Moreover, with his unimpressive resume, we might also need to sort out carefully whether he obtained the documents himself (in which case perhaps ) and if so, whether he really knows what he is looking at -- or if not, whether somebody else might have handed him the documents for release

[Marr]

30. The documents are not in dispute, and the WH wants to go after him legally for leaking them.

So I don't see what reason there is to doubt the authenticity of the documents themselves.

[struggle4progress]

31. ... Stewart Baker, the NSA's general counsel in the 1990s and now an attorney at Steptoe and Johnson

said .. the leaked Powerpoint presentation sounds "flaky" ... "The Powerpoint is suffused with a kind of hype that makes it sound more like a marketing pitch than a briefing -- we don't know what its provenance is and we don't know the full context" ...

No evidence of NSA's 'direct access' to tech companies
Sources challenge reports alleging National Security Agency is "tapping directly into the central servers." Instead, they say, the spy agency is obtaining orders under process created by Congress
by Declan McCullagh
June 7, 2013 11:30 PM PDT

[Marr]

33. The White House... does not... deny it.

And that "direct access" line is a lawyerly dodge. They, apparently, mirror the server on their own government-owned equipment and draw their data from that. You don't need "direct access" to the servers to have complete access to the information they hold, and the deceitful use of technical specifics does not inspire trust.

[Gravitycollapse]

11. This is called character assassination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_assassination

[struggle4progress]

13. Dunno. That fact, that there are some problems with his self-account, may be relevant, both

to his motives and thence to the reliability and credibility of his public interpretations of what he leaks

[Gravitycollapse]

16. The story you posted has already told a blatant lie. He did not drop out of the Army.

As is claimed by Snowden himself, he suffered injury during training and was discharged. The Army has confirmed he was discharged.

Whether or not such injury actually occurred or if it was the cause of his discharge will likely not be known for certain because, as I've already stated, both the state and its shills are participating, rather transparently, in character assassination.

[struggle4progress]

19. You may or may not be right about whether Snowden "dropped out" of the Army, but perhaps

you yourself should be able to provide some proof, if you want to refer to that as a "blatant lie"

[Gravitycollapse]

20. The author of this article has manufactured the claim that he dropped out out of thin air.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/booz-allen-edward-snowden-nsa-leak-92568.html

All the Army has confirmed is that Snowden was administratively discharged. Any accusation that he "dropped out" of the Army, as if simply dropping out is actually possible, is without merit at this point, even if it is proven correct in the future.

To commit such a blatant violation of journalistic integrity brings into question not only the "facts" perpetrated in this article but the very motivation for its authorship and publication.

All of this wreaks of character assassination. We have diverted attention away from what was leaked onto who leaked it.

[struggle4progress]

21. "... In 2003, Snowden enlisted in the U.S. Army, he told The Guardian ... According to the Army’s

records, Snowden enlisted in 2004, not 2003 ..."
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/edward_snowden_career.php

[Gravitycollapse]

22. Please explain to me how what you posted excuses the author's misconduct.

[struggle4progress]

32. Eh, mebbe it's just a careless assumption: the kid did drop out of high school; he did go two rounds

at a local junior college without obtaining any degree or certification; and he's telling this strange tale where he's under official cover for the CIA in Geneva just a couple of years after his last stint at the junior college; in addition, he seems to have misrepresented his salary at BAH, and he got the dates for his short army stint wrong; he may have misrepresented the name of a computer network as the name of a spying program; and there are other problems with his story, in addition to which the military so far has not provided the reason for his separation

[DevonRex]

34. Snowden claimed he was recruited for Special Forces. That is a blatant LIE. PROOF:

http://www.goarmy.com/special-forces/qualifications-and-benefits.html

QUALIFICATIONS

To become part of the Army's Green Berets, you need to be mentally and physically tough, endure difficult training and face all challenges head-on. In addition to that, you must:

Be a male, age 20-30 (Special Forces positions are not open to women)
Be a U.S. citizen
Be a high school diploma graduate
Achieve a General Technical score of 107 or higher and a combat operation score of 98 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
Qualify for a secret security clearance.
Qualify and volunteer for Airborne training
Must take and pass the Army Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA)
Must successfully complete the Pre-Basic Task list
Must have 20/20 or corrected to 20/20 in both near and distant vision in both eyes
One year of college is preferred, but it is not a mandatory for enlistment

*emphasis added by me

Snowden only has a GED. The diploma graduate requirement is absolute, no exceptions. So, his story about breaking both legs during Special Forces training is a lie. The Army verified only that he was discharged after 5 months, not the reason for the discharge and certainly not his bogus claim to have been in Special Forces training.

[struggle4progress]

37. Mebbe. Dunno. There are often ways to bend the rules if folk wan them bent.

The Army might they consider something else equivalent to a high school diploma, like "GED + 12 hrs college credit"

[DevonRex]

38. No. Absolutely not. That is a hard and fast requirement.

Call a recruiter. That is why it specifically says "diploma graduate." They want a clear distinction between them and the Rangers.

75th Ranger Regiment
Join the 75th Ranger Regiment
The 75th Ranger Regiment is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented growth in size, capability, and increased employment as the Special Operations force of choice. Due to this growth, positions in most MOS's have increased. The 75th Ranger Regiment is continuously looking for energetic and highly motivated individuals to fill its ranks.

Qualifications to Join the 75th Ranger Regiment

Be a male (75th Regiment positions are not open to women)
Be a U.S. citizen
Be on Active Duty and Volunteer for assignment
Have a General Technical Score of 105 or higher
A Physical Training score of 240 or above (80% on each event)
No physical limitations (PULHES of 111221 or better)
Qualify and volunteer for Airborne training
A person of good character (no pending UCMJ action or drug or alcohol related incidents within 24 months)
Must enlist into or currently hold a Military Occupational Specialty found in the 75th Ranger Regiment
Able to attain at minimum a Secret clearance
If you are interested in joining the 75th Ranger Regiment, please send all inquiries to the following email address:
Enlisted [e-mail]
Officer: [e-mail]

Immediate Openings

NCO and Enlisted
11B, 11C, 11Z, 12B, 12H, 12R, 12W, 12Y, 13F, 13Z, 25B, 25C, 25E, 25N, 25P, 25S, 25U, 25W, 25X, 27D, 29E, 35F, 35G, 35L, 35M, 35N, 35P, 35X, 36B, 37B, 38B, 42A, 42F, 56M, 68J, 68S, 68W, 68X, 74D, 79S, 88M, 88N, 89B, 91B, 91C, 91D, 91E, 91F, 91G, 91X, 92A, 92F, 92G, 92L, 92R, 92W, 92Y, 94E, 94F, 94W

Any Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) with Long-Range Surveillance experience is encouraged to inquire about opportunities within the Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC). RRC provides worldwide reconnaissance and operation preparation of the environment in support of the 75th Ranger Regiment and other special operations units.

Initial Entry Soldiers
If you are an initial entry candidate, we will answer any questions about joining the Regiment through the Option 40 Enlistment Contract. However, you will need to contact a local recruiter in order to join the Army. Visit the Army's web site: http://www.goarmy.com/learn.html, where you can submit your name and contact information. You will be contacted by a local Army Recruiter in your area that can help you with an application, and possible selection of future options.
Email: [e-mail]
http://www.benning.army.mil/tenant/75thRanger/recruiting.htm

[struggle4progress]

39. OK. If you've looked into it, I take your word for it.

[Marr]

15. Exactly.

You know, I heard he didn't always stop and chat with his neighbors!

[Gravitycollapse]

18. For all I know the man is a piece of shit. But I do not doubt the information he leaked.

And in all actuality, what he leaked probably barely scratches the surface of the kind of surveillance the US government has been committing under the guise of national security.

I do not blame Obama for the creation of these programs as they were born of the Bush era power grab. But I do blame the Obama administration for continuing such programs.

[sibelian]

27. I don't usually agree with you.

But in this battle, you have my sword.

[freshwest]

23. Good, I needed the laugh.

[cali]

24. Roger Simon. wow.

[sibelian]

26. He touches goats, too.

And can't spell "peripatetic".

Why does anyone listen to this man? Clearly he has no credibility.

I mean, if you look closely, his piggy little eyes are kind of squinty.

I think he's secretly gay.

He still plays that stupid "Mm mm mm mm" song by barenaked whatever they were. SO dated.

[randome]

36. Crash Test Dummies! Man, you have lost all credibility!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[HiPointDem]

28. i thought a slacker spy was one who had an easy gig posting at DU. retirees from the various

spy agencies and such like.

[arely staircase]

35. "Maybe the history of modern China was not on his GED exam."

[HipChick]

40. Misnomer on the diplomatic cover too..

all it means is that you are travelling abroad to work for the govt, you need to apply for a red passport, instead of a blue one...

Not a big deal as much as people are making out..