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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

#211

Post by jjordan »

glaive123 wrote: post #153

This is not news. Let's see him actually pardon Snowden, then talk about it.

Considering 3-4 years ago he referred to him as a traitor, I'd say the significant shift in stance is news. Should a pardon happen, this would set an important precedent for future whistleblowers and for the rule of law in the often obfuscated corners of the federal government.

Support the efforts of Rand Paul and Thomas Massie, who have already publicly stated their support for a Presidential pardon in this case.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#212

Post by djur »

refurb wrote: post #187
duxup wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Trump really hasn't taken the lead in much in the way of legislative action, almost ever. First major tax reform in decades?

Entirely driven by congressional Republicans.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#213

Post by bamboozled »

tbronchain wrote: post #200
s17n wrote: post #115

If he actually does it I'll seriously considering voting for him. He won't, though.

Probably why he's considering - or talking about - it now.

Was thinking the same thing, sounds like he's looking to win some votes back.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#214

Post by dboreham »

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…

Not sure why the downvotes. I've wondered if Snowden was running a sanctioned op since day 1. Heck even the movie floats this as a plot line (Nicolas Cage character).

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#215

Post by jbeam »

refurb wrote: post #191
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 the US is near the middle-bottom of per capita deaths in Western countries and far behind several European countries.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deat...

The US is eighth on that list. That’s not middle bottom, that’s top.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#216

Post by jeffbee »

ekianjo wrote: post #121
undoware wrote: post #37

[flagged]

> What Trump is trying to do is access the libertarian/tech worker vote. Thats a pretty small niche of voters. Not saying its a wrong assumption, but libertarians are typically a lot more concerned by trade and individual freedoms than whistleblower issues if you were to list up their top priorities.

Everyone has their own pet definition of libertarian. Call it techno-libertarianism if you want. What's clear is Trump has very powerful allies in Silicon Valley and has figured out that he only has to tap the tiny minority of right wing sympathy at Facebook etc and they will let him do whatever he wants. The idea that web companies are liberal and unfair to conservatives is popular and widespread. Appealing to other negative things that people believe about those companies (that they are spying on us, for example) strengthens his position in that regard.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#217

Post by refurb »

duskwuff wrote: post #79
eli wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He floats a lot of ideas that 1) make headlines but don’t really make sense and 2) never actually happen. He’s been two weeks from announcing a new healthcare plan since he took office.

Ditto for building "the wall", making various trade deals, bringing peace to the Middle East, ending the opiate crisis, launching the Space Force... He has a real knack for announcing bold new projects with no clear plan for carrying them out, then quietly moving on.

But he did do (or at least started) most of the things you just mentioned. Opiate crisis excluded.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#218

Post by smsm42 »

noobermin wrote: post #209
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…

It works because he maintains a high approval rating in his party.

Pardoning Snowden is not likely to be popular is his party, most Republicans aren't very big fans of Snowden.

However, it is true that Trump is known for publicly "floating" a lot of ideas that he latter drops if they prove unpopular. But, if everybody cheers him for it it might actually make it more likely to happen.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#219

Post by ttyprintk »

refurb wrote: post #191
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 the US is near the middle-bottom of per capita deaths in Western countries and far behind several European countries.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deat...

I think you're misinterpreting that table. USA is in between Chile and Brazil, in eighth place out of 150 countries. It has the highest deaths per-capita of any country over 100M people.

Re: Trump says he is considering pardon for Edward Snowden

#220

Post by refurb »

jbeam wrote: post #215
refurb wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Covid killing hundreds of thousands under his care But the US is near the middle-bottom of per capita deaths in Western countries and far behind several European countries.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deat...

The US is eighth on that list. That’s not middle bottom, that’s top.

Sure, but the top 10 is mostly Western countries.
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