A fugitive of what?
The man let the American people know that the government was spying on them, for any reason.
The man should have received a medal.
But, but, but he’s a traitor.
I was not pleased with Snowden given the initial reports. But I eventually had reservations about condemning the guy. My ultimate position concerned safe return and Congressional hearings.
Given the varying FReeper reports and opinions over the following years, I began to suspect his intentions were Constitutionally sound.
We have an interesting pool of intelligence here at FR — intelligence in the sense of data gathering and analysis. Assuming a high percentage of honest players, we manage to grind through the details pretty much exploring the realistic possibilities without individual reservations (although frequently contentious). In a way, FR is an undisciplined thinktank.
Even if he isn’t a spy and was just some idiot, the guy deserves to be hung just for being so irresponsible...he downloaded stuff he had not even read and had no way of knowing how much damage it would do or how other people and critical projects might be harmed by it and took what he downloaded not only out of the SCIF and off site, but even out of the country. You aren’t a whistleblower when you steal stuff you haven’t even read much less understood, you are a glorified looter. He signed an agreement when he took the job and violated it. Instead of taking his concerns to an actual legal authority or an actual representative of Americans, he went international. Then he cuddles up to a reporter who was hanging out safe and sound with terrorists in Iraq.