Edward Snowden: American Hero

#152
#152
Weezy said:
Is it a traitor when he's only helping the American public? I know its classified, but regardless of what the politicians say, it's not to trick the terrorists, but to keep the public out of it.
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I think there is a difference between someone who takes copies of classified documents out of the country and hands them off to a foreign entity on the one hand, and someone who raises an issue of legality to the public on the other.

If he really wanted to blow the whistle on this, he could have done it in the US with legal protections in place.
 
#154
#154
Gramps said:
He sat on one of the oversite committees for this program.

I will give you the same answer I gave mark.

If Cruz did his job and attended his classified committee meetings he knew the details. If he did not do his job and did not attend his committee meetings he did not know the details . I am assuming as a hungry freshman senator Cruz did do his job and attend the meeting. He may not have. I do not know and neither do you.
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Who said the committee was given the "details"? That's my question, this administration doesn't give out many details.
 
#155
#155
BearCat204 said:
The guy is probably guilty of espionage. Labeling him as a traitor isn't a stretch. He was entrusted with secrets and he took it upon himself to give those secrets away to people who aren't authorized.
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As of now I wouldn't label him as a traitor. It doesn't (as of now) look like he has divulged the information for personal gain or to help an enemy.

He did break the law and deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest.
 
#157
#157
I like David Letterman's take on this. On his show last night Dave said.

This guy Edward Snowden says he does not want to live in a society where the society monitors its people, then he fled to China.
 
#158
#158
Gramps said:
I like David Letterman's take on this. On his show last night Dave said.

This guy Edward Snowden says he does not want to live in a society where the society monitors its people, then he fled to China.
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Hong Kong is not your garden variety Chinese city. The fascists keep their hands off of it for the most part because of its economic power.
 
#159
#159
YorkVol said:
I think there is a difference between someone who takes copies of classified documents out of the country and hands them off to a foreign entity on the one hand, and someone who raises an issue of legality to the public on the other.

If he really wanted to blow the whistle on this, he could have done it in the US with legal protections in place.
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Seriously, I don't know what the whistleblower protections there are in the US, much less for "classified" information (even if the classified nature of this is dubious, imo). And if I worked for the CIA, and I wanted to blow the whistle on an internet spying program, I certainly wouldn't google it.
 
#160
#160
Also, he's probably since some dirty stuff in the CIA. Going to the media, and getting your face out there, was probably the smart move. I'm not sure legal paths would work (especially in Chicago...I mean Washington). Got my tin foil hat on today.
 
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#162
#162
Weezy said:
Seriously, I don't know what the whistleblower protections there are in the US, much less for "classified" information (even if the classified nature of this is dubious, imo). And if I worked for the CIA, and I wanted to blow the whistle on an internet spying program, I certainly wouldn't google it.
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The guy worked for BoozeAllenHamilton, he was not a federal employee so he could have used his company resources and they would have been obligated to protect him.

He could have called his congressional representative where he would definitely received protection and support.

He could have sued them the way Mark Klein did back in '06

Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
 
#163
#163
YorkVol said:
The guy worked for BoozeAllenHamilton, he was not a federal employee so he could have used his company resources and they would have been obligated to protect him.

He could have called his congressional representative where he would definitely received protection and support.

He could have sued them the way Mark Klein did back in '06

Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
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This isn't 2006,and this guy knows the capabilities of these intelligence agencies to subvert whatever legal asylum he may think he has.
 
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#164
#164
Russia would consider asylum for American in cyber furor Metro.us


Russia would consider granting asylum to the American who has exposed top-secret U.S. surveillance programs, if he were to ask for it, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stopped short of saying Moscow would accept Edward Snowden, but pro-Kremlin lawmakers spoke out in favor of the idea, tapping into a lingering Cold War rivalry with the United States and a vein of anti-American sentiment Putin has often encouraged.
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Not surprising
 
#165
#165
SamRebel35 said:
This isn't 2006,and this guy knows the capabilities of these intelligence agencies to subvert whatever legal asylum he may think he has.
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Nah, I've worked with a lot of BAH contractors. The older ones working on a second career are ones to watch out for. The younger ones, like Snowden, mostly couldn't handle the military or intel agency life and got out. They sell their skills and are generally pretty good at the technical stuff, but have little to no experience or knowledge of the larger picture. He had options beyond flying to Hong Kong.
 
#166
#166
I like to Browse comments on articles (especially the traitor or hero ones), and I liked this one.

Treason as properly applied is a violation of a person's allegiance to their sovereign.

The sovereign of the U.S. isn't the U.S. government. It's the citizens who make up the United States of America and our Constitution. This man did not commit treason. It is the people in government who violated their allegiance to the people of this country by arbitrarily spying on them and who violated their constitutional rights who committed acts of treason.
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#168
#168
IBlvNTmWrk said:
I'm not sure which party would appear more hypocritical, as both show an apparent bias. However, one could argue that the level of "surveillance" (or at least the public's awareness of it) has gotten worse in the past few years. Assuming this to be true, then the R's shift would make sense... but I can't think of any logical reason for the shift in the view of the D's.
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Given what we know about politicians, I feel confident that these shifts are almost entirely politically based.
 
#170
#170
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Well yes because the data mined was used politically
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Isn't that the real concern with domestic espionage, that the political opposition will be placed on enemy lists and targeted? Loyal Americans posting about politics on internet message boards probably get far more attention than the Boston Marathon bombers, and the government received warnings about those guys from a foreign intelligence service.
 
#174
#174
Snowden is a high school drop out, who was discharged from the Army because of an injury. He somehow managed to work his way up in that industry to make a six figure income at age 29. That is not one hundred thousand dollars a year; he made two hundred thousand dollars a year and lived in Hawaii. He was living a dream life and gave it up... to be unemployed, living in exile as a man without a country, facing very serious charges by the government of the most powerful country in the world and the extreme displeasure of a former employer with extraordinary resources. He is not a Marxist, Nazi, Muslim or any other form of political extremist. Why did he do that?
 
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#175
#175
Vol Main said:
Snowden is a high school drop out, who was discharged from the Army because of an injury. He somehow managed to work his way up in that industry to make a six figure income at age 27. That is not one hundred thousand dollars a year; he made two hundred thousand dollars a year and lived in Hawaii. He was living a dream life and gave it up... to be unemployed, living in exile as a man without a country, facing very serious charges by the government of the most powerful country in the world and the extreme displeasure of a former employer with extraordinary resources. He is not a Marxist, Nazi, Muslim or any other form of political extremist. Why did he do that?
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I've wondered myself the same exact thing. Some speculate his patriotism is what led him down this path. Others on the other hand believe the CIA is behind it. Retaliatory actions to the Obama administration for going after them. Which at first seems crazy, but on the other hand, all the other scandals right now? Who knows ??
 
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