131–140 of 157 posts
"Challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest" How do you do this when secret courts can keep you silenced?
Why do people who use the "face the consequences of his actions" argument consider it so self-evident? Accepting an unjust punishment for your good deeds isn't somehow more noble than escaping it. And not just an unjust punishment but an unjust punishment in the hands of the very institution whose corruption you exposed. Government lecturing us on proper civil disobedience is ironic to put it very mildly.
Sadly, it looks like more thought went into the response for the petition about building a death star. As far as the claim of "Hiding behind an authoritarian regime." I'm sure he would have loved to take refuge in a free country, but so far it looks like they are all run by cowards. There seems to be a false idea in our country that civil disobedience demands martyrdom.
Not a coincidence.
I have doubts whether Edward Snowden would get a fair open trial, with a jury of his peers. Serious doubts. The entire Snowden affair reminds me very much of Daniel Ellsberg. At the time Ellsberg was condemed by many (especially in the military industrial complex) as a traitor but now I think that just about everyone believes that Ellsberg did a good thing for our country and society. I think that history will look k…
It is my understanding that the Espionage Act does not allow for an affirmative defense -- so Snowden can't claim that he was justified in releasing the materials, rather he can only dispute the facts as presented by the prosecution. But since we all pretty much agree about the facts of the case, the outcome is predictable. It would be "fair and open" in some sense, I guess, but the game is rigged. (Not to say that h…
"Ellsberg was silenced before he could begin. According to Ellsberg, his "lawyer, exasperated, said he 'had never heard of a case where a defendant was not permitted to tell the jury why he did what he did.' The judge responded: well, you're hearing one now. And so it has been with every subsequent whistleblower under indictment"
> He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers -- not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. Not sure what I was expecting.
"judged by a jury of his peers" During the selection process for the Boston Bomber, a jury was selected of which only people willing to sentence him to death were allowed on. Snowdon would get a similar filtration. They would filter away any techies, etc until all that's left are people who will take the governments word as gospel. Ignoring the fact that the charges he's been charged with already don't allow for fair…
If the law states that a possible punishment for theft is putting the thief in prison, it makes no sense to allow people on the jury who morally object to the idea of prison.
And both sides are involved in jury selection. But who cares about the truth when you can just spread antigovernment FUD?
As a non-american it's kind of hilarious to have the american government, with all its powers, assets and resources figuratively yell at a single individual: "Come out and fight like a man!" The fact that someone thought this kind of response is appropiate in any way means one of two things: 1. They think the american populace is irrelevant and they can flip them the bird unscathed. 2. They think they have substantia…
To me, the response is a have your cake and eat it too kind of response. They hint at the technicality of not being able to issue a pardon in a way they sound tough on people like Snowden. Rather than "come out and fight like a man", it is "security, security, security, Snowden hasn't been convicted yet, security, security, security".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you think the Chinese/Russian intelligence services haven't managed to get their hands on the entirety of what Snowden took I think you underestimate their prowess. A few Western journalists in their flats and offices does not a secure facility for storing highly classified information make.
Given the apparent security practices where Snowden worked, I expect the Chinese/Russian intelligence services already had the entirety of what Snowden took. "A few Western journalists in their flats and offices does not a secure facility for storing highly classified information make." They might have done better if the NSA had not been deliberately undermining our ability to secure ourselves.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you think the Chinese/Russian intelligence services haven't managed to get their hands on the entirety of what Snowden took I think you underestimate their prowess. A few Western journalists in their flats and offices does not a secure facility for storing highly classified information make.
If Snowden took out data with such ease, I am strongly convinced that other services already had a copy of the relevant info (and much more) before he even thought about leaking it.
When is the NSA gonna face the consequences of its actions? All these people who lied under oath in front of congress and the American people, when are they gonna face the consequences of their actions?
I think Snowden is a traitor. Not for releasing the information, but for going to Hong Kong (China), and then to Russia. Snowden had access to a lot more information than was released. I do not honestly think Russia would have let him stay without requiring something from him. Taking classified/secret information to a hostile country is treason. If he had done what Ellsburg did and stayed in the United States and fac…
I think you're skipping the part where he gave the information to respected Western journalistic organizations and didn't actually have it on his person when he went overseas. Because frankly, that would be an incomprehensibly stupid move on his part.