That quote IS Greenwald walking it back, while saying he's not walking it back. Greenwald is saying, in effect, "Well, I'm not saying the NSA does or doesn't h

That quote IS Greenwald walking it back, while saying he's not walking it back. Greenwald is saying, in effect, "Well, I'm not saying the NSA does or doesn't have direct access; I'm just telling you that I saw a powerpoint slide that says that." Uh huh. Basically I'm agreeing with tptacek's downthread point: the slide deck claims "direct access", but other than that slide deck, there has been no evidence to support this, and some evidence against it. As I've said before, I think we should assume that slide deck is a little hyperbolic. This is a deck that claims you can real-time monitor all communications in the world for only $20M. I'm not saying it contains no truth; I'm saying it's a _slide_ _deck_. Also, btw, the Greenwald article you quote is not his finest. From what I've read in the last two weeks, I respect his agenda, and I respect his efforts to air this story, but some of his self-analysis is seriously lacking. If you're interested in my extensive dissection of that article, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5884619 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5884619