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Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

reuters.com

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Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#91

Post by roenxi »

longtimegoogler wrote: post #62
throwaway1777 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost everyone thought mass surveillance was a conspiracy theory before Snowden. On the balance maybe he still deserves prison, but denying the positives of what Snowden did is disingenuous.

I don't think so. Wasn't it common knowledge that the Government had access to emails via ISPs and shredder well before Snowden's revelations? What was revealing, I guess was some of the technical details of how it was being done.

Pre-Snowden nobody took the people pointing the risk out seriously. Snowden was what took the conversation from Conspiracy Theory to "Conspiracy Well Known Facts".

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#92

Post by malnourish »

repsilat wrote: post #87
malnourish wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain how you reconcile that belief with multiple statements supporting e.g. running for more than 2 terms, un-elected leaders, as well as the very recent refusal to fund the post office because it will help more people exercise their constitutional rights and the installation of a postmaster general who is actively removing sorting machines and post boxes, as well as unsourced claims of mass voter fraud, p…

Ah, well perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that his dictatorial tendencies are more a threat to democracy than they are a threat to liberalism. He's interested in being and staying President, not at all principled about what he needs to do to make it happen, but seemingly not so interested in expanding the surveillance state, suppressing speech, that sort of thing. As one of the "taxed but not represent…

Do you have opinions on the federal agents that were in Portland and the actions they took?

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#93

Post by duxup »

ekianjo wrote: post #83
duxup wrote: post #12

I suppose on his mind this might fit with some sort of fight with the "deep state". Beyond that I would just chalk it up to some inherent capriciousness... bordering on concerning instability.

Are you a mind reader?

I am not.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#94

Post by boomboomsubban »

dx87 wrote: post #55
cryptonector wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've addressed the President's possible motivations. But, do you think Snowden should be pardoned? Just curious. (It's a tough call. I've not decided my own position on the matter.)

I think it's debatable whether he should be pardoned for leaking the domestic spying information (I don't think so, he didn't try to bring it up through proper channels first), but he leaked information that had nothing to do with that. For example, he gave the Chinese government information about which computers the NSA had access to. My personal theory is that he just gathered as much information as he could get hi…

>For example, he gave the Chinese government information about which computers the NSA had access to.

When did he give them what information exactly?

>don't think so, he didn't try to bring it up through proper channels first

The two sides disagree whether he attempted this. Snowden say he spent tremendous effort trying to report things through the proper channels.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#95

Post by ekianjo »

mindcrime wrote: post #54

I'll be impressed when he actually issues a pardon. I'd say Trump is notorious for "talking about" things without ever delivering anything. Take the issue of 50 state concealed carry reciprocity. Regardless of what you think about this issue yourself, it seems clear that Trump has tried to pander to gun owners and 2A advocates by constantly talking about this. But last I heard, there had been no meaningful action on…

Trump likes to throw ideas in the wild and see how people react to it. It does that kind of polling all the time. This way you can see how the public is ready or not to have such discussions.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#97

Post by adventured »

sneak wrote: post #38

The CIA will instagib Snowden the instant it is physically possible for them to do so. A pardon will never change that. The commander of the CIA states it plainly: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/39568370275766272... (Remember, we're talking about the same CIA that hacked US congressional computers, because the congress was investigating the CIA’s torture record and they wanted to cover it up. Then the CIA…

Can you explain why the intel community or US Military hasn't killed Daniel Ellsberg in the last half century then? He's 89 years old, everyone knows what he did and he lives in California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg

Why haven't the people involved in the The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI been murdered? The members still alive have been public for the past six years. They revealed COINTELPRO and caused the Church Committee. Not worthy of an instagibbing?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Commission_to_Inve...

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#98

Post by ekianjo »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #60

The Post conversation reads like Trump has just heard a pitch to attract voters, and wants to know which side of the argument could help him more.

Thats what all politicians do. They have market researches and bring up issues that are of concern to voters in times of elections.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#100

Post by cortesoft »

kgarten wrote: post #58

Is it just me or is the term leaker politically charged in the context. For me, Snowden is a whistle blower not a leaker. There's a reason why he revealed secretes (he also didn't just release them, but was very careful how much he revealed), the secrete programs were unconstitutional -> whistle blower not leaker. edit: typo.

Leaking is a type of whistleblowing. Not all whistleblowers are leakers, but leaking secret information is one way to be a whistleblower.
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