Say what you will about Edward Snowden—treasonous scumbag, Putin's puppet, commie douche—at least he had the courage of his convictions. He hated America so much he was willing to spend the rest of his life in a shithole country (Russia) that's cold and miserable all the time. He betrayed his country because he believed in something, whatever that may be. He wasn't just doing it for the clicks.
Marc Ambinder is Edward Snowden without the conviction. The so-called journalist recently launched "The Secrets Machine," a paid subscription service for "researchers" and other "curious" folks interested in classified information about U.S. military tactics, techniques, and procedures. The newsblog, published on Substack, will be "free for a bit" but will soon begin charging subscribers for access to "premium content, like lists, research, and documents."
One month earlier, Ambinder was praising Vice President Kamala Harris for following the FBI's advice and avoiding Bluetooth wireless devices. "It is refreshing to see a vice president who takes seriously her obligation to protect sensitive and classified information," he wrote in an opinion column for MSNBC. It would appear his position on whether such information deserves protection is somewhat flexible.
Ambinder, who is best known for losing some weight, has teamed up with William Arkin, a former Washington Post blogger best known for calling American soldiers "mercenaries" during some of the worst fighting of the Iraq war. They plan to sell access to more than 20,000 "secrets" about the U.S. government. "If you're curious what @warkin and I are up to, subscribe. If you're worried about what secrets might be revealed... don't be. (Subscribe, too!)" Ambinder wrote on Twitter, the popular social networking website, after introducing the duo's first blog post about something called the 1st Capabilities Integration Group (Airborne).
Even for Substack, it's some of the most tedious content I've ever encountered. Almost too tedious, as if they want to discourage anyone who's not a foreign intelligence officer from becoming a paid subscriber. Ambinder's bombshell tweet about the 1st CIG's "footprint" and "inventory," for example, received a single "'like" from an anonymous account, probably because it's not very interesting. "The unit is made up of four battalions (the 1st through 4th), various mission support units, a cyber operations squadron, and a 'technology operations squadron,'" the bloggers blogged, boringly.
I kept reading in the hope of learning something useful about a previously undiscovered torture method or Joe Biden's unfortunate habit of murdering civilians with drones. Nothing. Just some half-assed drivel for nerds, without the ideological fervor of a Snowden or Kaczynski. On the contrary, it would seem that Ambinder is just another cat person in Los Angeles trying to become an influencer.
Not all Americans are created equal. Some have the courage to stand up and serve a cause greater than themselves. They put on the uniform, pick up a gun, and run toward the fight. People like Lawrence N. Brooks, the oldest American veteran of the Second World War, who died last week at the age of 112. People like Free Beacon Man of the Year Kyle Rittenhouse.
Then you have people like Marc Ambinder, who aid and abet the leaking of classified information to America's nuclear-armed and increasingly belligerent adversaries at a time when our doddering commander in chief can barely wipe his own ass without Ron Klain's help.
Shame!