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NSA Chief James Clapper: We Should Have Been Transparent About Metadata Collection

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ObserverArt2/18/2014 7:01:32 am PST

re: #218 Dark_Falcon

Doesn’t work as an analogy. P.T. Barnum was like Harry Houdini in that he played pranks (humbugs, he called them) freely, but devoted quite a lot of time and energy to exposing ‘spirit mediums’, preachers claiming direct connection with God, and other types of fraudster.

P.T. Barnum would have hated Glenn Greenwald with a passion. and he probably would have pwned Greenwald as brutally as Charles does.

Dark, I agree, but even your comment admits he played pranks. And he made money on those pranks. In that spirit he can be compared to Greenwald. I remember digging through internet sites to find if he ever said the famous “a sucker is born every minute” quote and came across a site that had a pretty good explanation of the man. I just looked and found it again. Here is a quote that I think fits in…

It was through the success of the American Museum that Barnum realized that conventional ideals could be transformed through ingenuity and innovation. The Museum embodied all that American society sought as they struggled to legitimize a new democratic frontier, and celebrate a newly found personal authority. Whether fact or fiction, the conclusion was less relevant than the experience or opportunity. Barnum was ingenious in presenting speculation within a world of curiosity. He offered a chance to explore the irrational, examine imaginative possibilities, and derive opinions and truths. Even for P.T. Barnum, the American Museum was only the beginning of a lifetime of extraordinary adventure and acquisition of immense personal knowledge and fame.

The bit I put in bold speaks to the point I and I believe Lawhawk was making. He knew how to titillate for profit. Greenwald knows it too. Sure there are many cliches about Barnum that have come to be accepted as truth, but overall he still played on people for personal gain. Barnum was not all negative and mean, but in essence he had a way that many others use today as a business model and Greenwald uses it and the cliche (suckers) both for his gain. I did not intend to slime Barnum with the likes of Greenwald. Barnum was relatively harmless. Greenwald…dangerous. It all comes from how you use the tools that Barnum discovered.

The quote comes from this link The Barnum Museum