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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

#161

Post by listenallyall »

smt88 wrote: post #61
runawaybottle wrote: post #16

Politically, bringing back Snowden brings back the issue, Obama/Biden era big government spying program Prism. Trump: Remember everyone, Biden used to spy on you. This is similar to when he did a press conference with all of Bill Clinton’s accusers. Just a means to an end for Trump.

Politically, he just says insane things that get headlines, which distract from the real news: Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care, dismantling of the Post Office, and other highly unpopular consequences of his presidency.

>> Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care

but, but, but... it was going to kill millions!!!

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/0...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/the-coronavirus-could-kill-m...

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/03/millions-could-...

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#162

Post by eagsalazar2 »

tlear wrote: post #112
runawaybottle wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I mean, if he pardons before the debates, suddenly that takes up a debate topic slot. All he has to do is directly ask Biden, ‘You don’t think Snowden did the right thing by exposing your administration’s surveillance program?’. It’s such an easy win, and will take mindshare away from other issues (coronavirus response, police reform, Medicare/social security cuts). Add a TikTok ban in there and take up another…

I think there is almost zero chance that Biden will debate him. If he does pardoning Snowden and making that into an issue is a brilliant move. That will sting hard.

Biden already accepted invitations to the debates, last I read Trump had not.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#163

Post by doonesbury »

duxup wrote: post #75
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 really hasn't taken the lead in much in the way of legislative action, almost ever. I don't think he understands or has the patience for the process. Anything beyond what he can try to decree himself, he seems to lose interest / struggle with. Even tripping up his own party members in congress while they try to understand what he wants. He has threatened to veto things he pushed for... then signed them shortly…

Agree. Cross functional management? Are you kidding? The man can barely find the oval office desk two days in a row.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#164

Post by stjohnswarts »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #72
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.

Snowden's method of whistleblowing was leaking documents to the press. He is both.

It's all semantics, he revealed valuable knowledge to the public about how the government was unConstitutionally surveilling them at every opportunity without remorse or apology

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#165

Post by briandear »

emilsedgh wrote: post #144
pyuser583 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both

Using "leaker" instead of "whisteblower" is not necessarily wrong, just politically charged. Using "leaker" means you are ignoring that what he did was to blow whistle on illegal activities and only focusing on him.

Leaking was the method. It is a statement of fact that he was a leaker. It’s a statement of values/opinion that he was a whistleblower.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#166

Post by pirocks »

listenallyall wrote: post #161
smt88 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politically, he just says insane things that get headlines, which distract from the real news: Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care, dismantling of the Post Office, and other highly unpopular consequences of his presidency.

>> Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care but, but, but... it was going to kill millions!!! https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/0... https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/the-coronavirus-could-kill-m... https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/03/millions-could-...

In all fairness its by no means over yet.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#167

Post by aoowii »

brbsix wrote: post #140

The response to this news on HN has been very disappointing. By contrast, there was a lively apolitical discussion[0] back in 2015 about the effort to bring Snowden back to the US. On the other hand, people now seem more concerned about the motivations of Trump. If it's the right thing to do, who cares about the motivation behind it or the person enacting it? This reminds me a little of the response to Trump's effort…

I agree with you in principle, but how can you have an apolitical discussion on a topic that is fundamentally and inseparably political? It's a conversation on treason, presidential decisions, exile, intelligence organisations... It's always been political. Hypothetically the president might want to pardon Snowden and then change his mind when he is in the country, then yes I'd like to discuss his motivations. And people have been burned by this man before so I can't blame their biases.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#168

Post by stjohnswarts »

aoowii wrote: post #160
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.)

What the NSA is doing is wrong and edward should be pardoned, but he has said himself he is fine with a fair trial in court (fair is the key word here). So even if you are undecided on the pardoning you have to agree he should be given trial in the US unless for some weird reason you love the NSA that much.

He can never get a fair trial in the current state of our government, he better just stay where he's at and hopefully Trump or a future government will pardon him and welcome him back like the hero he is.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#169

Post by timmytokyo »

burfog wrote: post #150
undoware wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be interested to know the rationale for the downvote.

Probably for this: "we skew white, male, and affluent. Those, as he sees it, are his people." That appears to be an accusation of racism, sexism, and classism. He was in the public eye for decades, but didn't get those sorts of accusations until he dared to become involved in presidential politics. The evidence points the other way. Just a few items, one for each accusation: He used to have a black girlfriend. He fre…

His racism has been apparent for longer than the last 3.5 years [1].

[1] https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-r...

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#170

Post by [deleted] »

dannyw wrote: post #117
djsumdog wrote: post #104

I honestly care more about Julian Assange. His own government turned their back on him. Snowden has been quite the show, enough so that I'm seriously wondering if he's actually a spook. His entire story is weird. He holds a six figure salary as an NSA contractor, suddenly has a moral compass, somehow downloads a bunch of top secret stuff while working remotely from Hawaii, leaks documents that are mostly redacted and…

Snowden went to Russia. Julian Assange couldn’t physically get out of a FVRY nation.

[deleted]
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