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Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

m.washingtonpost.com

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Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#41

Post by Houshalter »

jliechti1 wrote: post #7

If the "terrorists" are following this whole story, wouldn't now be a prime time for another attack? This could have the effect of validating the NSA's activities in many Americans' eyes ("see, the NSA is unable to its job without invading our privacy") and we would see a whole new round of new laws capitalizing on Americans' fears of terrorists (which means their terrorism succeeded).

That isn't the goal of any terrorist organization as far as I know. And terrorists aren't that rational or effective to begin with.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#42

Post by Houshalter »

krapp wrote: post #35
mladenkovacevic wrote: post #27

Jesus Christ some of the comments on that article. I wonder if there was some way to analyse what percentage of it is astro-turfing and what percentage is real red-blooded Americans just brainwashed into thinking government knows best. Americans you are lost. It's been nice knowing you.

>Americans you are lost. It's been nice knowing you. There are fewer than 500 comments on that site as of right now, that doesn't mean anything about anything. Sometimes I wonder if people are actually aware that the United States has more people in it than can fit into a single room.

You do know what a sample is right?

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#43

Post by krapp »

Houshalter wrote: post #42
krapp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Americans you are lost. It's been nice knowing you. There are fewer than 500 comments on that site as of right now, that doesn't mean anything about anything. Sometimes I wonder if people are actually aware that the United States has more people in it than can fit into a single room.

You do know what a sample is right?

Yes.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#46

Post by jonnybgood »

mladenkovacevic wrote: post #27

Jesus Christ some of the comments on that article. I wonder if there was some way to analyse what percentage of it is astro-turfing and what percentage is real red-blooded Americans just brainwashed into thinking government knows best. Americans you are lost. It's been nice knowing you.

I keep seeing on HN about how most Americans simply don't care about this issue and it being the reason there isn't more of an uproar. However, I have a different take: They have a different opinion than you. It's not that they don't care, are brainwashed, or "lost", it's just that they have a different opinion on the matter. Now I'm not saying they are right or wrong, but let's keep in mind that their opinion is just as valid as yours.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#47

Post by andrewfong »

AYBABTME wrote: post #38
krapp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Americans you are lost. It's been nice knowing you. There are fewer than 500 comments on that site as of right now, that doesn't mean anything about anything. Sometimes I wonder if people are actually aware that the United States has more people in it than can fit into a single room.

If you assume the readers of the Washington Post are unbiased, 500 is a decent sample space.

People who comment on the Internet are generally not a representative sample.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#48

Post by morganherlocker »

quesera wrote: post #5

> “If I defected at all,” Snowden said, “I defected from the government to the public.” He can't run til 2020, but I'll cast an early vote now.

I do not know if I would vote for him necessarily (not knowing much about the rest of his views), but a candidate who promised to pardon Snowden would receive a couple "get-out-of-terrible-policy-suggestion free cards" in my book.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#49

Post by morganherlocker »

jliechti1 wrote: post #7

If the "terrorists" are following this whole story, wouldn't now be a prime time for another attack? This could have the effect of validating the NSA's activities in many Americans' eyes ("see, the NSA is unable to its job without invading our privacy") and we would see a whole new round of new laws capitalizing on Americans' fears of terrorists (which means their terrorism succeeded).

While the whole "if we do X then the terrorists win" phrase might be largely accurate, I kind of doubt that it is planned that way.

Re: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

#50

Post by wavefunction »

visakanv wrote: post #13
jessedhillon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assumption #1 in your comment: NSA activities have not and are unable to stop arbitrary terror attacks at all. Assumption #2: That successful attacks in this scenario would lead (reasonable or otherwise) people to demand less surveillance. Assumption #3: Terrorists want to the NSA programs ended, which would not make sense if #1 is true. So I'm not sure why this would be a good strategy for anyone.

I think you misinterpreted the comment. It's arguing that now would be the optimal time for terrorists to strike, validating the NSA.

I guess I'd be wondering how the NSA failed to prevent the attack, with all these NSA revelations coming out every few days. I already wonder why I'm still getting illegal telemarketers' calls, why the drug cartels still operate, why so much evil in this world continues with the omniscient NSA.

j/k I don't really wonder...

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