261–270 of 814 posts
Everyone seems to forget that Snowden didn't just leak information about domestic spying, but also about unquestionably legitimate spying on foreign countries. There's no way he gets a pardon for that.
I think there also needs to be a 'Protect all whistle blowers' petition also. A petition to pardon Snowden is a noble goal (IMHO), but there are deep rooted issues which are not addressed by simply pardoning one individual. I wonder why there is no, 'Pardon Chelsea Manning' petition also? Could it be related to transgender issues?
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-chelsea
John Schindler's reporting works as a kind of explainer on why Obama/Clinton/Trump are v. unlikely to pardon him: https://20committee.com/2014/05/31/the-xx-committee-snowden-...
On a practical note, is it possible to pardon someone who hasn't yet been convicted of anything? Presumably Obama could instruct the AG to drop the charges but that wouldn't prevent a future president from pursuing them.
Maybe a naive question, but what would the risk be for me to sign this? I wonder if I (a US citizen) might get trouble the next time at the border? Or get a higher score in some database, that combined with other things might get me into trouble? Increased scrutiny from the IRS (which should have nothing to do with this, but "they" might say hell why not?)? Inability to get security clearances in future? Being target…
You know what? I don't think that's an unreasonable concern and it's exactly why this situation is so horrible. It's the return cold war communism paranoia. "Of course I'm allowed to do this, but will this get me on some watchlist?" I guess the ethical answer is that, the more people will sign this (think a million?), the less likely it is to be used as some kind of filter. Even though what's one million names in a d…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure it’s a fair argument to exclude dozens of the wealthiest countries in the world because they own definition of socialism —that they practice— does not meet your imagined one. The definition is not complicated: have key industrial assets, notably transport infrastructure, owned by public authorities.
TIL the United States is a socialist country.
In the intelligence world, it's common to be very cautions about leaks since foreign actors like Russia can really benefit politically from such scandal.
It can be difficult to really know all the details since it's covered in secrecy, and Snowden himself will knowingly avoid to say too much to reduce the damage.
In my view, digital surveillance is a complex issue because people don't really understand how it's done, the west is still waging a war against terror to avoid attacks in land, and agencies will often want to screw the due process to catch terrorists however they can.
"By taking action you agree to receive occasional email updates from the Pardon Snowden campaign." This alone is enough to deter participation. These campaigns need to separate social action from database building.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know what long risk mitigation is, but I'm offended. /s But seriously, nobody at the NSA is going to place* you on a watch list because you are part of a small vocal minority that raised support online for Snowden, a wanted traitor and saboteur of the USA. *There is however a good chance that the money grubbing bastards at one of the third party contractors the NSA eats up reports and analytics from will prof…
I'd be very surprised if the NSA doesn't collect these signatures for later matching. Doesn't mean that you'll have black vans following you around because of it - they have lots of lists for all kinds of things. The most obvious application in this case is that you would be automatically disqualified for a security rating in the future. You'd never get to know the reason of course, you'd just be rejected. EDIT: I st…
In the end though, if they want you to work for them, security clearance will be granted.
Both ACLU and AI have their own petition forms with different letters.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/edward-s...
https://action.aclu.org/secure/grant_snowden_immunity
Wondering if ACLU and AI are a little late to confirm, or if this is an elaborate attempt to get qualified contacts info.