It’s been the decade of leaks, famously this trio:
- Edward Snowden, 2013
- Chelsea Manning, 2010
- Julian Assange, 2010
All of the above were involved in leaking secret military data, harming national security and risking the lives of US military and government personnel. Each of these three is celebrated by the left.
On the other hand, there is a debate this week about the possible release of a memo written by Republican legislators on the House Intelligence Committee. The memo, if released, will be released by the legally constituted authorities, after full legal review. The New York Times editorial board trumpeted as follows:
unbridled self-interest and bottomless bad faith…undermining the credibility of the law enforcement community…nothing to do with truth or accountability…misleading propaganda…cut-and-paste job…There’s so much deception and obfuscation going on here that it’s hard to know where to start…shows a profound ignorance …junior high school pranksters…The question is whether there are any adults left in the G.O.P…the consequences — and the rest of America — be damned.
Of course, the NYT editorial board hasn’t read the memo yet, it hasn’t been released. Yet they know all these things about it, and have reached their considered and temperate judgement.
Set aside the contents of a memo none of us has read. I’ll even concede for the sake of argument that maybe it shouldn’t be released. Focus just on the contrast between the three leakers on one hand; and lawful actions by elected officials, the duly constituted authorities, on the other hand.
Presumably many of the people who applauded Manning, Snowden and Assange, now oppose the release of the House memo. This is the position they find themselves taking:
- unauthorized releases are good, but
- this authorized release is bad
Hypocrisy.
The Bottom Line
Looking forward this weekend to a re-reading of Animal Farm:
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others…Four legs good, two legs better!”