Article: 10 Questions for NBC Host Who Shamelessly Suggested Greenwald Be Arrested for NSA Leaks

Source: AlterNet

NSA leaks did not just reveal government spying, but also the mainstream media's refusal to question or challenge authority.

David Gregory

Two weeks into the hullaballoo surrounding whistleblower Edward Snowden and Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, one thing is clear: they did not just reveal potentially serious crimes perpetrated by the government -- including possible perjury, unlawful spying and unconstitutional surveillance. They also laid bare in historic fashion the powerful double standards that now define most U.S. media coverage of the American government -- the kind that portray those who challenge power as criminals, and those who worship it as heroes deserving legal immunity.

Indeed, after "Meet the Press" host David Gregory's instantly notorious performance Sunday, it is clear Snowden's revelations so brazenly exposed these double standards that it will be difficult for the Washington press corps to ever successfully hide them again.

The best way to see these double standards is to ponder 10 simple questions.

1. During that "Meet the Press" discussion Sunday of Greenwald publishing stories about Snowden's disclosures, Gregory asked Greenwald, "Why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?" Beyond the odiousness of a supposed journalist like Gregory seeming to endorse criminal charges against journalists for the alleged crime of committing journalism, there's an even more poignant question suggested by Mother Jones' David Corn: Why hasn't David Gregory asked reporters at the Washington Post, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News the same question, considering their publication of similar leaks? Is it because Greenwald is seen as representing a form of journalism too adversarial toward the government, while those establishment outlets are still held in Good Standing by Washington?

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