Orwell cackles

Whether you admire or despise Ed Snowden, you must admit one thing: The guy gave up a lot to blow the whistle on shit like this. He said goodbye to a cushy job, a lovely girlfriend, and any chance of spending the holidays with his family again. And yet, as noted in an earlier post, Jeffrey Toobin called Snowden "a grandiose narcissist."

This has become an official media meme. Marc Davis of the Dallas Morning News calls Snowden "a self-absorbed traitor." Ralph Peters of the New York Post declares him vain -- "a spoiled brat" and "Kim Kardashian with stubble" who gave an "I-love-me interview." In HuffPo, former MI6 officer Matthew Dunn -- in a hilariously failed attempt at ESP -- posits that Snowden developed a "self-centered grievance" because life at the NSA didn't provide Jason Bourne-style thrills.

A week ago, Matt Taibbi wrote a fine piece about the Bradley Manning trial. In it, he quotes this hideous article in The Telegraph by Dr. Tim Stanley, who refers to Manning as an "egotist" and "a self-absorbed geek." Yes, Stanley actually dared to apply those words to a man who gave up his freedom and his life to expose atrocious acts committed by the American military.

Listen closely and you can hear the ghost of George Orwell cackling. Big Brother has changed the language on us again:

First "War is Peace" (the rationale for the Iraq invasion)...

...then "Freedom is Slavery" (the rationale for the NSA's assault on privacy)...

...and now...

Altruism is Narcissism.

Next time you see Matthias Grünewald's Crucifixion, you can snicker and say: "What an egomaniacal jerk!"