Meanwhile, in Edward Snowden’s home away from home, President Vladimir Putin is continuing to tighten his autocratic control over the Internet with a new “bloggers law” that requires Internet site owners and bloggers to register with the government, and requires any organizations and companies that host these sites to keep records (that must be stored in Russia) for at least 6 months of everything they publish.

For good measure, Putin also signed a law that criminalizes profanity with heavy fines for using “vulgarities” in TV, movies, books or plays.

The New York Times reports that Putin gave a speech in St. Petersburg at the end of April in which he signaled the start of the crackdown by thanking Edward Snowden for bringing his attention to this important issue.

“You know that it all began initially, when the Internet first appeared, as a special C.I.A. project,” he said in remarks broadcast live nationally, before adding that “special services are still at the center of things.” He specifically thanked Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor granted asylum in Russia, for revealing to the world how efficient the N.S.A. was at collecting information.

Mr. Putin went on to say that someone writing online whose opinion affects thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people should be considered a media outlet. He said he was not talking about a ban, only acting “the way it is done all over the world.”

Glenn Greenwald’s excuse for never saying anything about this subject is that it’s not his beat. He’s focused on other things. How dare you question him, you drooling subservient Obamabot?

Maybe it’s just me, but this issue seems to impinge directly on everything Glenn Greenwald has been writing and speaking and ranting about for years — free speech, civil liberties, surveillance, blogging — and it also directly involves Edward Snowden, the man responsible for his newfound adulation and fame … and he can’t find time to write a single word about it?

Seems odd.