Honestly what does he expect Snowden to do? He went to Russia as very few places were safe from extradition, etc. If he joined in the social media slacktivism over Ukraine he'd be booted out. It would be different if he could actually do something about it, like his previous whistleblowing.
Edward Snowden in Hindsight
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Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#12Snowden defected to China, then Russia. He is neither a hero nor a patriot in my book. While the programs he identified may have been bad for democracy and America, it was not his place to blow the whistle, and he went about it in such a shady, criminal way that I can never forgive him.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#13I simply see both acts as completely divorced from each other i.e.: revealing the spying and being silent post Ukrainian invasion. First is an act of bravery, second an act of cowardice and well, those are the choices he made and they aren't in contradiction of each other. He was brave once and now he's not, and the truly important thing is what he revealed more so than our opinion of his character.
I think this is a really shitty way of framing it. Snowden doesn’t owe you anything but you likely owe him something. He did a thing once that loads of others didn’t because it was the right thing to do. He paid very dearly for that and is now living under a government that is holding his life in its hands. In the US Snowden faced prison for his actions. In Russia he faces torture and death if he steps out of line. I think it’s completely out of bounds to call him a coward in this case.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#14Snowden is likely facing much more scrutiny in Russia, a totalitarian regime he became stranded in.
He gave up a very comfortable life once and landed in a far much less comfortable one. Blaming him for not risking his life again, and now likely also his SO and child(ren), comes across as naive or at least reductive.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#15It's interesting how often people who write from the comfort of their home in a country that has never oppressed them criticize someone for not wanting to die.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#16Why does he have to have a public position on Russia/Ukraine? We defer to him for his expertise on and experience in surveillance technology, not international politics.
What he did years ago was brave. It's not hard to understand why he just wants to live as normally as possible now.
Zdziarski does great work, but his conservatism sometimes seems to get the better of him.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#17> During his time in Russia, we have seen the whistleblower system work effectively here at home. The details of Trump’s Ukraine call, and the subsequent freezing of security aid seems rather relevant today. More impressively so, this same whistleblower system Snowden criticized worked against a sitting president having no capacity for restraint. It's just laughable to believe that "the system works" because certain…
There does seem to be a political mindset attached to leaking. If it's a leak against conservatives, it's written as heroic and patriotic. If it's a leak against liberals then it's a threat to democracy and a crime. Snowden is no hero and I think defection was his intent all along.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#18What a crock of shit. The poster is angry that Snowden doesn't stand up and question the dictatorship he has found himself stranded in? Would he/she rather Snowden put himself in more harms way to become a political pawn? Not only does ES have to fear the western empire's wrath for outing their unconstitutional crimes, but now has to fear his stock as a pawn to be brokered between two sociopathic nation states. I presume the author believes Julian Assange is remiss & 'at home' sitting quietly in Belmarsh, too.
TLDR: Clickbait shit-poster gains clicks. News @ 11.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#19In hindsight Snowden has deftly negotiated the line between bravery and stupidity. I very much hope he keeps his mouth firmly shut about Ukraine and spends the rest of his life with his family.
Re: Edward Snowden in Hindsight
#20Snowden defected to China, then Russia. He is neither a hero nor a patriot in my book. While the programs he identified may have been bad for democracy and America, it was not his place to blow the whistle, and he went about it in such a shady, criminal way that I can never forgive him.
Who's place was it to do it then? Seriously? You already work in government - so tell me, what mechanism should have been employed? Seems like no one else in the ranks had the balls to do it except him.