This is a sagacious and amply researched dissent from the Edward Snowden support campaign. Its thoroughness exceeds other books, essays, op-eds, news reports and multi-media performances on the topic whether favorable or unfavorable to Snowden, all too many of which merely recycle opinions and far too few give close attention to Snowden's releases.
Unfortunately Fitzpatrick also neglects the Snowden documents to focus on coverage of secondary stories which requires little effort, a technique of derivative journalism to treat itself and its disputes as the greatest story of the era. Desperate survival of journalism is thought be a national security matter. So let's have a national debate about us, to hell with Snowden's revelations.
This canonical rehash of her faith in journalism's importance has its virtues nonetheless. It is a near perfect earnest amateur espionage supported intelligence doctrinal assay on threats to the faith of national security, verbose at length, teacherly referenced, prototypical individual and group suspects named, biographed and slandered, imaginary covert plots uncovered, to mimic a Presidential Daily Brief summa cum laude peroration:
"Encryption corrupts
Absolute encryption corrupts absolutely"
This is Twitter-grade spit. More: @catfitz
-----
A flurry of tweets by the author followed this review.
The gender of CatFitz is unknown. Gender imposters are commonplace online and off; Facebook lists some 53 varieties. On Twitter identity varieties are far greater, individuals using dozens to argue with, attack, smear and compliment themselves.
CatFitz tweeted that hir intent was not to cover the Snowden documents, that will be done later.
CatFitz vociferously objectioned to online posting of portions of the book - as more than quaint "fair use."
CatFitz denied that 99% of the book was plagiarized recyling of Cold War rhetoric.
CatFitz did not answer that the text appeared ghost-written by aging [spy] agencies stuck in the past.
CatFitz did not answer that 3-stars was quite generous in the face of hir wholesale plagiary and excessive reliance upon links to other sources to bulk up slightest credibility.
CatFitz did not deny that this common industry standard of journalism to fabricate quilts of snippets harvested online, then brand the quilts as copyrighted.
"CatFitz moaned and spouted vulgarities as if plagiarizing a "violated" virginal starlet seeking publicity for type-cast roles." This comedic phrasing exemplifies CatFitz's advanced persistent lusting for "commie" targets.
CatFitz in hir book and in hir tweets demonstrates the parlous state of mendacious and avaricious opinionating upon the opinionating of others in Amazon's corral of desperate writers rapidly producing Tweet-grade spittle as worthy of intellectual property theft ridicule, not 99-299 cents.
CatFitz stalks targets online and off using a slew of disguises and personas, avatars and Second Life's, in accord with practices of spies and journalists, priests and nuns, predators and "victims." Hir book is packed with venal and venial deceptions, entrapments, houndings and crowings of gotchas. These unclassified "means and methods" derive from hir blog and social media accounts which hector and accuse targets mercilessly as if on a holy mission of retribution and damnation guided by God hirself, Whom, CatFitz is confident to assert, is implacably "anti-commie" in the 1950s mindset still prevailing in secret organizations of theocracies. In the US theocracy of endless paranoix and war this claim derives from the infallible writ of the National Security Act 1947 which empowered a secret regime of spies, supporters, industry and politicians unmatched in history but amply precedented in the United Kingdom's withering royal empire.
For more eloquent, less hysterical, writing see on Amazon hir manifold companion tracts of retro-Cold War paranoia by mentor Economist senior editor Edward Lucas; on Twitter @edwardlucas.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
