Replies

BuckeyTexan thank you for your thought provoking post. I read the original article about Edward Snowden and watched the interview a few days later. As MontanaJoe acknowledged in an earlier post... nothing was revealed that I and almost every other person in this forum didn't already assume was being done. His “crime” or “treason” according to MontanaJoe was contradicting the statements of officials in the Obama administration that had been questioned recently by congress.

Collecting this “meta-data” on the communications of every American citizen is a horrendous waste of time and resources, because again as MontanaJoe has pointed out in an earlier post... he himself sometimes takes additional steps to ensure the privacy of his own communications. Does he think that our “enemies” are less sophisticated than he is and will not do the same? Does Montanajoe think that Muslim terrorists do not purchase prepaid cell phones using anonymous names or set up free email accounts using false identities or use any number of other techniques that largely gets around this multi-billion dollar boondoggle.

Again... MontanaJoe posted that Edward Snowden didn't reveal anything that he himself didn't already assume was happening and that he himself didn't already take steps to assure his own privacy. Edward Snowden contradicted and embarrassed the Obama administration; he did not reveal the identities of secret contacts or even details that were specific enough that they have compromised any ongoing NSA operation. All he did was confirm what almost everyone has assumed has been going on all along and bring the subject out to where it can be openly debated.

Edward Snowden did this at great personal risk to himself and on behalf of his fellow citizens. There is a very good chance he will either be killed or spend the rest of his life in some secret dungeon. He has sacrificed himself hoping that it will start a debate which would help turn the country from the path that he sees as ever more intrusive and unconstitutional interference in the lives of innocent people. In my book he is a patriot.