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America’s Open Wound

edwardsnowden.substack.com

101–110 of 349 posts

Re: America’s Open Wound

#101
post #30
post #13

I have to ask, because I know that Biden was said to give a speech with bad optics but I never looked it up seriously - is that photo doctored?^W^W^W I just googled it myself. Whoever is doing his PR needs to be sacked for leaving him open to a photo like that.

> Whoever is doing his PR needs to be sacked for leaving him open to a photo like that. The speech wasn't any better.

what was wrong with it?

Re: America’s Open Wound

#102
post #94
post #87

Has everyone on Hacker News lost their minds? I come here to read and sometimes participate in rational discussions. These comments are some of the lowest effort, least rigorous, paranoid bullshit I’ve ever seen on this site. We’re a step above Facebook comments on NPR articles, here. Partisanship, viciousness and lazy conspiracy theories are not a good look for this site.

Yes, the amount of hate for Snowden and Assange is dismaying. These men sacrificed their lives to expose the crimes of one of - if not the most -powerful organizations on Earth. And people nitpick that they’re not criticizing the other most powerful entities too. Basically they’re criticizing them for not committing suicide in the name of a people which were impotent of unwilling to do anything with the revelations p…

Assange has been a Russian asset for a long time. Snowden is a spokesman for Putin now. What a coincidence.

Re: America’s Open Wound

#103
post #13

I have to ask, because I know that Biden was said to give a speech with bad optics but I never looked it up seriously - is that photo doctored?^W^W^W I just googled it myself. Whoever is doing his PR needs to be sacked for leaving him open to a photo like that.

That wasn’t just a photo — and it was intentional. US markets had the red backdrop dictator scene, while international markets had a blue-and-red shot. The Biden PR team intentionally broadcast a dictator speech, while broadcasting a different look internationally — an act meant to provoke and intimidate political rivals. Edit: I’m not sure your point? The speech following that brief crowd segment is the red with mar…

Stop being a joker, what you're saying isn't true. CSPAN's coverage is right on YouTube and anyone can look it up and make you look like a fool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JemWkV2Vcic&t=967s

Re: America’s Open Wound

#104
post #94
post #87

Has everyone on Hacker News lost their minds? I come here to read and sometimes participate in rational discussions. These comments are some of the lowest effort, least rigorous, paranoid bullshit I’ve ever seen on this site. We’re a step above Facebook comments on NPR articles, here. Partisanship, viciousness and lazy conspiracy theories are not a good look for this site.

Yes, the amount of hate for Snowden and Assange is dismaying. These men sacrificed their lives to expose the crimes of one of - if not the most -powerful organizations on Earth. And people nitpick that they’re not criticizing the other most powerful entities too. Basically they’re criticizing them for not committing suicide in the name of a people which were impotent of unwilling to do anything with the revelations p…

>I’d be surprised to hear that these people even contradict their boss

Has Snowden talked about Putin's war on Ukraine yet?

Re: America’s Open Wound

#105
post #22

A bit hypocritical of Snowden to criticize the USA while holed up in Russia. But maybe I'm a bit partial considering the USSR destroyed every semblance of culture and national identity in my home country, causing generations of corruption and trauma, and ultimately emboldening my family to move to the States--abandoning lifelong friends and family--where a much better life was possible. But please, keep lecturing us…

In real terms, where else is the man supposed to seek refuge? Only a handful of nations can manage to resist American influence. Powerful, yet friendly nations, almost always bend to pressure from the US Government. Edit: I’d also like to add that only a handful of nations have intelligence agencies of their own that are capable of preventing some black ops extraction or assassination. I doubt the government of Ecuad…

What options really there is? China? Cuba? Iran? North Korea?

Yeah, knowing how the government treats political prisoners, going back to what would clearly not be a reasonable trial is something that anyone would do in the situation.

Re: America’s Open Wound

#107
We say: Hey, the police are killing us, could you please stop that.

No, we need to be tough on crime. It's just too bad that some people die, but I need to feel secure.

We say: Hey, the police are still killing us, could you please stop that. It looks like we need to reboot the justice system.

No, we need to be tough on crime. Why do you want the crime rate to go up?

We say: Hey, the police are still killing us, we need to abolish the police.

No, we need to be tough on crime. Why do you want everyone to be murdered in their beds?

---

Imagine just showing up at each of those exchanges, what would it look like without the history if you just saw a point in time.

We all live with an internal moral history - what we thought was righteous and unrighteous at any point in time.

---

In my canned example at the top, I didn't talk about the actual changes that took place in policing.

There's just no way for me to write my whole viewpoint on this situation in a comment. If it's possible for you to do that, then maybe you don't want a complex society with people who want different things and have different points of view. I deeply understand this perspective. It would be so nice if everyone just agreed with me. It would be so nice if everyone had the same moral history and there was no deep division and hatred. But that's just not the world we have. People are complicated and want different things. People have histories that lead them to believe a certain way.

---

Anyway, I think any police organization or system of justice should be based on reduction of harm.

Re: America’s Open Wound

#108
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the amount of hate for Snowden and Assange is dismaying. These men sacrificed their lives to expose the crimes of one of - if not the most -powerful organizations on Earth. And people nitpick that they’re not criticizing the other most powerful entities too. Basically they’re criticizing them for not committing suicide in the name of a people which were impotent of unwilling to do anything with the revelations p…

>I’d be surprised to hear that these people even contradict their boss Has Snowden talked about Putin's war on Ukraine yet?

[flagged]

Re: America’s Open Wound

#109
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the amount of hate for Snowden and Assange is dismaying. These men sacrificed their lives to expose the crimes of one of - if not the most -powerful organizations on Earth. And people nitpick that they’re not criticizing the other most powerful entities too. Basically they’re criticizing them for not committing suicide in the name of a people which were impotent of unwilling to do anything with the revelations p…

>I’d be surprised to hear that these people even contradict their boss Has Snowden talked about Putin's war on Ukraine yet?

He very vocally defended Russia while they were building up to the invasion and then became completely silent after they invaded. I wouldn't be surprised if Snowden doesn't actually have the password to his Twitter account and can only post Putin approved tweets.

Re: America’s Open Wound

#110
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the amount of hate for Snowden and Assange is dismaying. These men sacrificed their lives to expose the crimes of one of - if not the most -powerful organizations on Earth. And people nitpick that they’re not criticizing the other most powerful entities too. Basically they’re criticizing them for not committing suicide in the name of a people which were impotent of unwilling to do anything with the revelations p…

>I’d be surprised to hear that these people even contradict their boss Has Snowden talked about Putin's war on Ukraine yet?

Why should he? He’s not Jesus or the world police.
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