A fascinating interview with the NSA whistleblower, which ends with a chilling prediction of where the logic of manifest destiny and exceptionalism will lead the United States: There will be a time where policies will change, because the only thing which restricts the activites of the surveillance state are policy, even our agreements with other sovereign governments; we consider that to be a stipulation of policy, r…
Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
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Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#22" Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. "What they're doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said. " Thoughtful people brave enough to blow whistles seem to be the greatest check on what looks like a secret, unaccountable, illegal centralization of power based on lies from the top of the gov…
I don't know about you, but that's a chance I'm willing to take. As far as I'm concerned, Edward Snowden is an American hero and deserves a medal and a ticker-tape parade before he deserves to spend the rest of his life on the run, and possibly ultimately in a jail cell, or having his life taken prematurely by US operatives.
I think he did the right thing though, by going public. Presumably he knew the odds that "they" would track him down anyway, and by going public he has a chance to leverage popular public sentiment as a shield of sorts. As he says, it's a tactic to keep them from "going dirty". He might still wind up in jail, but there's a better chance now that they'll have to deal with him through ordinary judicial means, and (hopefully) no torture, or secret imprisonment at Guantanamo or whatever.
Hopefully Iceland (or maybe Ecuador!) will grant him political asylum and give him a shot at a semi-normal life, albeit far from his original home.
Postscript: To any NSA / CIA / FBI / etc. spooks who are reading this - blow me.
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#23Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#24So many questions, so few answers. Hopefully the coming weeks sheds more light onto this.
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#25Hong Kong as his safe harbor from the U.S. government. I wonder what Kim Dotcom would say about that.
Kim Dotcom's company was registered in Hong Kong, but Kim and his office were in New Zealand.
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#26This seems commendable.
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#27" Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. "What they're doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said. " Thoughtful people brave enough to blow whistles seem to be the greatest check on what looks like a secret, unaccountable, illegal centralization of power based on lies from the top of the gov…
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#28If that doesn't scare you and you still think "I have nothing to hide, nor will I have anything to hide in the next 2 decades or more", then maybe Americans will deserve whatever is coming their way.
Just know that the worse this gets, the harder it will be to get on the right path again, because it's very hard to change an oppressive government and an oppressive culture, once you get to that point. And the worse the "solution" will have to be to fix things.
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#29> "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant." Exemplary. I am glad that men like he exist, bur I am genuinely fearful for his safety. Look what happened to Bradley Manning. I think it was a good thing that he revealed his identit…
Re: Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
#30Men of stainless character will easily inspire confidence and automatically purify the atmosphere around them.