You have to wonder: Will Obama see out his full term?

[FarCenter]

Edward Snowden has blown the whistle on this presidency. You have to wonder: Will Obama see out his full term?

"They could pay off the Triads," says Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower interviewed by the Guardian in his Hong Kong hideout. Meaning: the CIA could use a proxy to kill him for revealing that Barack Obama has presided over an unimaginable – to the ordinary citizen – expansion of the Federal government's powers of surveillance over anyone.

Libertarians and conspiracy theorists of both Left and Right will never forget this moment. Already we have Glenn Beck hailing Snowden on Twitter:

Courage finally. Real. Steady. Thoughtful. Transparent. Willing to accept the consequences. Inspire w/Malice toward none.#edwardsnowden

Snowden will be a Right-wing hero as well as a Left-libertarian one. Why? First, he thought carefully about what he should release, avoiding (he says) material that would harm innocent individuals. Second, he's formidably articulate. Quotes like the following are pure gold for opponents of Obama who've been accusing the President of allowing the Bush-era "surveillance state" to extend its tentacles even further:

NSA is focussed on getting intelligence wherever it can by any means possible… Increasingly we see that it's happening domestically. The NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone, it ingests them by default, it collects them in its system and it filters them and it analyses them and it measures them and its stores them for periods of time … While they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government or someone they suspect of terrorism, they're collecting your communications to do so. Any analyst at any time can target anyone…

I do not see how Obama can talk his way out of this one. Snowden is not Bradley Manning: he's not a disturbed disco bunny but a highly articulate network security specialist who has left behind a $200,000 salary and girlfriend in Hawaii for a life on the run. He's not a sleazy opportunist like Julian Assange, either. As he says: "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100220938/edward-snowden-has-blown-the-whistle-on-this-presidency-you-have-to-wonder-will-obama-see-out-his-full-term/

[Buzz Clik]

1. I thought BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! was supposed to bring him down.

And then IRS.
Then AP.

You jumping on board with the knuckledraggers?

[RobertEarl]

12. See this?

You and I can agree on something.

This op is just a smear. Obama is not the target, it is the NSA who won't tell our reps what they are doing.

Obama wants to control the NSA and he can't do it without us rising up and raising hell.

[Buzz Clik]

28. +1

[Avalux]

38. Exactly!

[The Magistrate]

2. Nice To See 'The Telegraph' Giving 'The Onion' Somr Competition, Sir

[Cali_Democrat]

8. LOL

[FarCenter]

9. I particularly admired the Glen Beck quote

[roamer65]

30. If this guy leaked under Bu$h.

Beck would be calling for his head on a platter right now.

[bhikkhu]

3. Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA, the Patriot act, and technology advances

If the NSA has acted according to the law, with court supervision and congressional oversight, then what is left is the usual distorted talking-points, half-truths, and lousy reporting.

on edit - no ill will toward Snowden at all, or any other "whistleblower". If he acted according to his conscience, then perhaps I would have done the same in his shoes. But a program conducted legally is hardly watergate, however much the RW and the media are thirsting for another watergate.

[uponit7771]

4. Obama was impeached after the Birth Certificate scandal sooooooo, we don't have to worry about

...that guy /sarcasm

[Tx4obama]

5. President Obama has NOT broken any laws. BUT Edward Snowden has...

... that's why he fled to Hong Kong.

[warrior1]

6. +1000

[CakeGrrl]

17. And that will be

cause for disappointment here.

Crazytown.

[BlueCaliDem]

36. + 2000.

When did Democratic Underground become Libertarian Underground?? I've been away too long {week and a half}.

[NoPasaran]

7. Personally I wonder "Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?"

[DisgustipatedinCA]

16. I had that thought as soon as I read his name for the first time

I'm glad someone else remembers.

[OilemFirchen]

20. I used to work with one at a grocery.

I was eighteen and simply couldn't get enough of his tales of "chipping golf balls off a battleship with Admiral Nimitz".

He worked deeeeep under cover in the produce department.

[Cali_Democrat]

10. What a bunch of horseshit

Obama isn't going anywhere. Deal with it.

[FLyellowdog]

26. ^^^^^^True. eom

[NYC Liberal]

41. Much to the dismay of some.

[ProSense]

11. So this is about bringing down the Obama Presidency?

"I do not see how Obama can talk his way out of this one."

Wait, "talk his way out of" following the law? It was clear where this was heading, and the reason for all the misinformation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022969079

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022977943

[Blaukraut]

22. For the Right Wing, and unfortunately some posters here on DU, it always was about that n/t

[ProSense]

31. Breathless, non-stop scamdal-mongering.

Even before the election. OMG, blah blah.

It seriously has been as bad as the RW, like Republicans comparing Sebelius to Oliver North.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. I'm not wondering. I wonder who IS wondering?

Where are the crimes and/or misdemeanors that will drive him from office? What the NSA has been doing is legal. We may not like it but it's not illegal anymore (like when Bush was initially discovered to be doing it). What else is going to bring him down? Benghazi? The IRS? AP? No wrongdoing has been linked to him or his office. No reason that he will leave the office sooner than January 2017 unless he resigns and why would he do THAT?

[burnodo]

14. Yes, Obama will see out his term

if Bush could get through without being impeached, anybody can

[roamer65]

15. I'll reserve judgement on this guy until I see more facts.

This very possibly could be a case of Chinese espionage. We cannot rule that out quite yet.

Obama's not going anywhere. There are not the votes in the Senate for removal from office.

[LeftInTX]

18. Like this:

If it's on The Globe's front page, I take it very seriously!!!

[UTUSN]

19. A blog says *I* have to wonder?!1 Nope, nip, somehow I don't have that wonder-thing going on. n/t

[LondonReign2]

21. Why would Republicans impeach Obama over this?

They fucking love it. As do many of our more tepid Democrats like DiFi

[napoleon_in_rags]

23. Rove has spoken out against the leak.

And I believe Paul is supportive. So its a bit divisive for each side at this point I think:

Snowden will be a Right-wing hero as well as a Left-libertarian one.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/karl-rove-nsa-surveillance-92395.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/rand-paul-may-sue-federal-government-over-prism-nsa-surveillance-programs-leaked-edward-snowden

[newfie11]

24. I have no idea if this will end Obama's presidency

I do think anyone blowing this off better reconsider.
I know many of you think the occupy movement was to be laughted at, Manning was a weasel and traitor ( I don't), now this.
What does it take for you to open your eyes? We are becoming a 3rd world country. Look at infrastructure, our schools being privatized, colleges getting grants from such as Koch brother ( who need to ok the hiring of professors), TPP which will royally screw our states ( read what it has done to other countries and the lawsuits), keystone pipeline, I only hope Obama comes to his senses and refuses to sign it.

Now the government has scared away many contacts our few legit reporters had by listening in on their phones.

This country is in a world of hurt and anytime someone puts the crap we are not supposed to see out there, the government wants them arrested.

Yes this country has had a long history of practice in controlling the sheeple. Look at the history of South America and our wonderful CIA protecting the rich business men.

Wake up, it is comeing here!

[SidDithers]

25. ...

Should be nominated for a DUzy.

Sid

[siligut]

27. Damian Thompson is a sell-out and an idiot extraordinaire who fancies himself clever

Damian Thompson is Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He was once described by The Church Times as a "blood-crazed ferret". He is on Twitter as HolySmoke. His book The Fix: How addiction is taking over your world has just been published in paperback.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100219648/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-liberal-empire/

He takes things out of context and then builds a story around his error, and he calls Martin Bashir crazy. Dumbass.

[Laelth]

29. No way the R's can pick up enough seats to convict in the Senate.

Obama's term is not in jeopardy.

-Laelth

[Bluenorthwest]

32. This is some seriously squalid writing. Unfair and uncomprehending in typcial Telegraph style.

The language about Manning sounds like some bigoted country club lush. The rest is just as right wing and just stupid.

[Coyotl]

33. At least one person is catching on about WHY this is in the post-Benghazi, post-IRS news.

And I think at least two people have figured out why we have Intelligence agencies

[gulliver]

34. This is so thrillingly intellectually spastic!

It is a glorious day on DU. This stuff is truly inspired, a brilliant form of deeply stupid madness. Toss the record books out the window! This stuff is so supernaturally stupid that it resembles the fevered work of a mad genius of idiocy.

[bike man]

35. Pffft! No problem! What is just one more disappointment. nt

[LWolf]

37. Yes. nt

[morningfog]

39. Silly question. But, Obama has had to spend considerable capital on

defending bush policies. This, like others, is bogging down the second term and distracting from immigration reform, economic recovery, marriage equality and many other worthy progressive ideals.

Obama, by aligning with bush on policies, has opened himself to these distractions. He has lost the frame and the narrative. Weak, weak political maneuvering. He is permanently on defense and will be until the end of his term.

[jazzimov]

40. Did he get a bj while in office?

I thought this was interesting:

Snowden is not Bradley Manning: he's not a disturbed disco bunny but a highly articulate network security specialist who has left behind a $200,000 salary and girlfriend in Hawaii for a life on the run. He's not a sleazy opportunist like Julian Assange, either.

so, Manning is a disturbed disco bunny and Assange is a sleazy opportunist.

Interesting.......

[newmember]

42. It's one thing after another so what's next?

I do think it's the first time I have seen a lame duck presidency happen to the winner.

That's what we are witnessing before our eyes.

[HiPointDem]

43. huh? a winner is the only person who can be a lame duck. you have to win to get into office.

[newmember]

44. right but they become a lame duck on the outgoing , it's never when they just won an election