Just something to think about regarding Snowden....

[catnhatnh]

I've read about dropping out of high school and college....

Try it this way-high school was a waste and he got a GED-probably easily. Dropped out of college without a diploma or computer certification. Didn't need them-he'd already absorbed what he wanted to learn. But when the smoke cleared he gained a high paying job. The guy is a socially inept nerd and probably a borderline personality.

Think of that profile-I'm betting an IQ most of us could only dream of and it was the brain-not school records or personality that landed his job. I'll bet the security clearances were a nightmare and only granted because of arm twisting by the contractor.

It's not that I really care because I believe the message is MUCH more important than the messenger. But I think a lot of people here are misreading him.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Hell, if he'd gotten a doctorate from Oxford he'd be called an "overeductaed twit"

by the Kill the Messenger/Father Knows Best crowd.

[newfie11]

9. +1. Nt

[flamingdem]

2. Snowden does seem to be a classic IT type but that brings with it

a certain disconnection. He may suffer from a black and white world view due to his nerd orientation and or the lack of formal education.

It does make a difference in terms of balanced thinking, at least in some cases.

We'll know how this plays out later. He's either in trouble or he's the master of his destiny and he'll call the shots to some extent.

[dkf]

3. Its funny that the detractors were crowing he hadn't taken computer courses in community college.

I can only admire someone who didn't need to be taught!

[MADem]

6. What was reported initially is that he did take the courses, but didn't complete them.

Some of the college courses were towards his GED.

The truth, like it or not, is this--most IT shops would not hire that guy with that educational background. He went from NSA janitor to IT shop in the blink of an eye, and I think the process whereby that happened might be interesting to learn about.

[sabrina 1]

4. Not that I disagree with you, but if this guy was a god, the kill the messenger crowd would be

spreading dirt, manufactured mostly, as fast as they could. We hardly had time to remember his name before they were out in force slamming him. Without even knowing anything about him..

It's the message they are trying to kill, and who better to use to try to do it than the whistle blower?

I don't think it's going to work this time. It hasn't worked with Manning, didn't work with Drake, or Binney, and hasn't worked with Assange. The world is far more aware now than they were even ten years ago. We as a nation have little credibility when it comes to war and human rights and civil liberties. That is an advantage for someone like Snowden. Bush destroyed this country's reputation but in a way all he did was expose what many of us did not know about this country's foreign policies. Now we do, we're not going to be distracted by the smear campaign, true or not.

[PID767]

5. Why were his security clearances a nightmare?

[snot]

7. Agreed: "I believe the message is MUCH more important than the messenger"

And I don't think I've seen much in the way of denials regarding the truth of this claims.

[longship]

8. Well, it's just that how does a guy like that get a clearance?

Especially for apparently high level stuff that's been leaked. I have made some posts about that because I have been thinking that there's something screwy about that.

I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing that out.

But you may be correct about the assessment in your post and certainly would answer some of those questions.

But I still find it a bit screwy given what I know about such clearances from first hand experience.

I have no opinion about Snowden personally other than this apparent anomaly. You are correct, this is about him leaking and what he has leaked more than his character.

Although I will bet that the security people will be profiling Snowden's character with a fine tooth comb to determine what they missed when they gave him the clearance. Kind of like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped.

R&K

[sibelian]

10. Also he smells faintly of dead things.

And even when you look straight at him, for some reason it's like seeing something out of the corner of your eye.

What a shadowy, mysterious thing he is.