Blog – Page 6

Where To Find My Work

It’s probably obvious by now, because my last post was nearly three years ago, but these days I’m not really blogging on my site. My writing output is devoted pretty much to ... (Read more)

Trump Official Obsessed Over Nuclear Apocalypse, Men’s Style in 40,000 Posts on Fashion Site

The Intercept
February 16, 2017
A senior official on President Trump’s embattled National Security Council warned in previously unreported comments that it is “inevitable” an Islamic terrorist group will carry out a successful nuclear attack against the United States, and that in ... (Read more)

Dark Essays By White House Staffer Are the Intellectual Source Code of Trumpism

The Intercept
February 12, 2017
Let’s say you are a top official on the National Security Council and Donald Trump requests a memo explaining the purpose of his chaotic presidency. What are the odds you would draft a 4,000-word essay arguing that America is like a doomed aircraft that’s ... (Read more)

What Slobodan Milosevic Taught Me About Donald Trump

The Intercept
February 7, 2017
During his inaugural address, Donald Trump deployed rhetoric that was familiar to anyone who spent time in the Balkans in the 1990s. “You will never be ignored again,” Trump thundered, with Congress as his backdrop. He expanded on the idea a few days ... (Read more)

In Just 10 Days, President Trump Has Split the Government Into Warring Factions

The Intercept
January 31, 2017
War has broken out, not on foreign territory or on our streets, but in the offices and hallways of the departments and agencies that create and execute the laws, policies, and regulations of the United States. Its sights and sounds are those of a bureaucracy ... (Read more)

Should Officials Resign When the Government Goes Crazy?

The Intercept
January 29, 2017
You are a dedicated civil servant and you have loyally performed your job for years, but suddenly you are confronted with tasks and policies that horrify you. Should you carry on, or should you quit?

This unusual question is presenting itself with urgent regularity as President ... (Read more)

Obama’s Pardon of Gen. James Cartwright Is a New Twist in the War on Leaks

The Intercept
Jan. 18, 2017
The celebrations over President Barack Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence have overshadowed what might be a more consequential development in the government’s long-running war against leakers and whistleblowers: Obama’s ... (Read more)

Why Obama Should Pardon All Whistleblowers and Leakers — Not Just Edward Snowden

The Intercept
Sept. 19, 2016
Of course President Obama should pardon Edward Snowden — and Chelsea Manning, too.

But this story is not about the excellent reasons for thanking rather than locking up the two most famous whistleblowers of the post-9/11 era. Plenty of people are already calling for that ... (Read more)

He Was a Hacker for the NSA and He Was Willing to Talk. I Was Willing to Listen.

The Intercept
June 28, 2016
The message arrived at night and consisted of three words: “Good evening sir!”

The sender was a hacker who had written a series of provocative memos at the National Security Agency. His secret memos had explained — with an earthy use of slang and emojis that was unusual ... (Read more)

What It’s Like to Read the NSA’s Newspaper for Spies

The Intercept
May 9, 2016
The men and women who work at the National Security Agency were greeted, on March 31, 2003, with a cheery notice on their office computers. “Welcome to SIDtoday,” a new internal website announced, explaining that the communications team in the Signals Intelligence ... (Read more)