NSA document leaker Edward Snowden is a something close to a god to many of my friends. He certainly comes off as a candidate for sainthood in Laura Poitras’ documentary about him titled “Citizenfour.” But then there is community radio/podcast commentator Dave Emory’s take on the guy, summarized by the sobriquet he has given Snowden: “Eddie the Friendly Spook.”
Emory’s lengthy “Eddie the Friendly Spook” series certainly pulls no punches (“spook” being a slang name for spy). In July of 2013 he suggested that “in the background” of both Snowden “as well as his co-conspirators” at Wikileaks are “far-right, fascist elements,” most notably “big money” men like Peter Thiel and Carl Lundstrom. He accused both Snowden and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange of holding “far right political views.” Snowden may be working with a clandestine German intelligence operation, Emory added. In any event, Snowden’s actions “only make sense in the context of working to damage Obama.” Indeed, Emory charges, they “give every indication” of functioning as an “intelligence community destabilization operation.”
Snowden’s activities “may well alienate young, idealistic voters from Obama and, perhaps, direct naifs toward the 2016 candidacy of Rand Paul, the son of crypto-Nazi Ron Paul, Citizen Snowden’s candidate of choice,” Emory warned.
I am unable to come up with a response to this decidedly contrarian stance (except, obviously, to note its existence). Emory identifies himself as an “anti-Fascist researcher” (see YouTube above). I do periodically check in with Emory’s thoughts from time to time because he is, if nothing else, interesting and knowledgeable. He certainly does offer a perspective that contrasts greatly with the usual conspiracy oriented fare you hear on various community radio stations, which is generally supportive of Snowden. You can hear David Emory’s “For the Record” program on WFMU in New Jersey, KPFK in Los Angeles, KFJC in Los Altos Hills, California, and elsewhere.
More recently Emory reiterated his position on Snowden in Part 16 of his Snowden/Spook series, released in April:
“We end on a speculative note: Eddie the Friendly Spook’s economic and political theories are fascist and fundamentally opposed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. His belief that we must get rid of Social Security and bring back the gold standard are propagated by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, the ideological font of Snowden’s political idol Ron Paul.”
I guess in the end all I can say is, well . . . any thoughts from Radio Survivor readers on this?
