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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow do you view Edward Snowden and his actions?
But when the topic of Edward Snowden comes up, President Obama talks like hes at the summit of Olympus, uninterested in mortals. Its not a very convincing act. In June, he scoffed at the idea of scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker. Snowden was actually 30, and within a week a U.S. ally would ground a plane because of a rumor Snowden had boarded it. At Fridays press conference, at which Obama discussed potential changes to Americas surveillance programs, NBC News Chuck Todd asked the president whether Snowden was a patriot, and he scoffed again.
I don't think Mr. Snowden was a patriot, he said. I called for a thorough review of our surveillance operations before Mr. Snowden made these leaks. ... Mr. Snowden's been charged with three felonies [and] if in fact he believes that what he did was right, then, like every American citizen, he can come here, appear before the court with a lawyer and make his case.
More at : http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/08/obama_surveillance_reforms_the_president_dismisses_edward_snowden_from_astride.html
12 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Time expired | |
I support what Snowden has done, and might use words like \"whistleblower\" or \"patriot\" to describe him. | |
8 (67%) |
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I do not support what Edward Snowden has done, and might use words like \"criminal\" or \"traitor\" to describe him. | |
4 (33%) |
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I support some of what Edward Snowden has done, and oppose other aspects. I might use words like \"patriot\" and \"criminal\" to describe him. | |
0 (0%) |
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I\'m unsure what Edward Snowden has done, and am unsure how I view him or his actions. | |
0 (0%) |
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0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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pnwmom
(108,978 posts)I do not support his leaking ANY information about our spying on other countries, but I welcome the debate he has triggered about US internal surveillance.
I think some of what he leaked could fall under the category of "whistle-blowing," but a "patriot" wouldn't have leaked information about our spying on China and Russia.
OmahaBlueDog
(10,000 posts)Thanks!
That just about sums up my feelings perfectly.
pansypoo53219
(20,976 posts)AND WHERE WAS HE IN 2006 WHEN IT WAS REPORTED GEORGEE WAS DOING THIS WITHOUT A WARRANT??? heck, where was the GNEWS MEDIA???
FarPoint
(12,366 posts)The ball was set into motion then....under *bush. Very difficult to reverse.
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)Seriously, can you guys come up with something that resembles a coherent rebuttal?
"It's not news" is no longer passable. Get over it.
Oakenshield
(614 posts)Our feelings on him however are rather irrelevant. What matters is the information he shared, and the discussion it has provoked.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Polls have up to 10 options for a reason.
IncessantPerfidy
(18 posts)some will disagree and that is ok with me because one cant tell the players without a scorecard.
ehcross
(166 posts)Edward Snowden is well aware of the capacity of the NSA to collect information from the whole world. Snowden himself is supposed to be an expert in such a task, and well knows that the NSA can easily identify threats to the National Security of the United States, thus effectively protecting the country from 9/11-style attacks.
The collective citizen´s reaction to the disclosure was a loud rejection to the "intrusion" on their privacy. But citizens should know that a minor NSA threat detection capability could save many, many lives.
Snowden should have been a firmly active supporter of the NSA program.
hlthe2b
(102,269 posts)Snowden is one man, but the potential impacts of a surveillance program that can reach and violate the individual rights of anyone in this country or even across much of the world--sans any REAL checks and balances SHOULD be the ISSUE.
That that has not been the emphasis in this whole saga, only tells me how very much we are being manipulated--by the media, by NSA, by the administration, and yes, whether intentionally or not, by some of our fellow DUers.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)That debate seems to predominate these days. I don't know enough about Snowden to form an opinion about *him* personally. I think, by his actions, that he is a whistleblower, and the heated discussions regarding the NSA and comprehensive surveillance tend to support that moniker.
What I find most distressing is the growing contingent of sanctimonious, authoritarian DUers who character-assassinate Snowden, Greenwald, and anyone herein asking questions about Snowden's actions and the NSA. Dog forbid we should highlight anything that casts a negative light on our 11th dimensional, constitutional law scholar.
ehcross
(166 posts)When Americans finally recover from the blow of Edward Snowdens´shameful betrayal, they will realize that they have, without firing a shot, given away to their enemies the most valuable product of American ingenuity, developed and operated by the NSA, which would have protected the American people from any attack, from anywhere in the world, and without leaving their chairs.
The young so-called hero, now on the run, and with nowhere to go, but enjoying the warm hospitality of Vladimir Putin, the devil himself, and probably Fidel Castro himself, and the bunch of supporters that blindly call for comfortable asylum for him in a Caribbean resort, are about to realize just how costly their mistake was.
As Americans recover from their hysteria, and Edward Snowden is, hopefully, settled in his cold Russian dacha, with nothing new to leak, the United States will have learned a few very costly lessons about whom to trust in today´s world.