[henkster]

I wonder if it occurred to the government that it wouldn’t be a problem if they only wanted the young IT guys to spy on known enemies and not everyday American citizens.

[Jeff Winston]

House Speaker John Boehner called Snowden "a traitor."

Tells me all I need to know about John Boehner.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“Some differentiate Snowden from Pfc. Bradley Manning, ....”

As I still have more than two functioning neurons; count me amongst those who make that distinction.

[Hawk1976]

There is a huge difference between gathering evidence against certain individuals and then presenting that evidence to a court for a warrant to gather information on them and just gathering in all information about all individuals to be used as some petty, or not so petty, tyrant sees fit.

I was willing to bend a little bit on the secret warrants before this relevation. A small piece of tyranny used for a little while to protect the larger freedoms seemed reasonable. Now, they don’t even feel the need for a warrant to collect information, they probably also track the location of cell phones. It’s just another symptom of a totally out of control government.

Snowden didn’t reveal anything other than the fact that US government had turned it’s apparatus against US citizens. He should be awarded the Medal of Freedom.

[miliantnutcase]

Oh God, here’s more blame the lowly IT guy... He was an admin, of course he had access to this stuff. He can’t provide access to these systems if he doesn’t have it himself.
I love how there is all this outrage against IT now, “HE SHOULDN’T OF HAD THIS ACCESS!”. Only a lawyer who is used to screwing people out of their money would be shocked by this.

[DrDude]

Panetta gave out classified information to many. He gave info to Movie Producers and the general public. It led to the deaths of several Americans. Where are the charges? Where is the TRAITOR label? Selective prosecution! That is what Snowden is trying to point out.

[DrDude]

Panetta gave out classified information to many. He gave info to Movie Producers and the general public. It led to the deaths of several Americans. Where are the charges? Where is the TRAITOR label? Selective prosecution! That is what Snowden is trying to point out.

[Amendment10]

I regard the “young” in the title of the referenced article as a subtle ad hominem to cast doubt on Snowden. After all, note that Bill Gates was about 20 when he co-founded Microsoft. And Snowden grew up in computer age.

[Raycpa]

Why is it commonly accepted he is or was in China? I would not tell where I was actually going.

[null and void]

They shoulda hired an H-1B for the job...

[LADY J]

Lots of self-made millionaires with similar educations!!

I personally know a super-intelligent IT guy making six figures that can write his own ticket. He is a college drop-out who got fed up with the liberal clap trap that they spew..

[Cyber Liberty]

...this unelected IT guy thinks he has a right to determine which information should remain classified.

This puts the finger on the problem I have with this guy.

I hear all this highfalutin' talk about how he's saving the country by blowing the whistle on something bad (if true, it's pretty bad), but it bugs me we have workerbees who decide they have veto power over the operations of which they are employed. I don't think this Snowden person is sharp enough to know what needs to be classified.

There is a difference between being a criminal and civil disobedience: Going to jail for your beliefs. He didn't, instead he fled and is hiding. This gay Manning guy has more substance than Snowden.

[bgill]

What did Aaron Swartz know?

[BfloGuy]

Here we go again. Criticizing the leaker instead of the leak. Makes no sense to me.

[palmer]

As Grenell sees it, "the federal government just keeps throwing money at problems, and there are very few bureaucracies that have an ongoing evaluation program of how the program works." After being flagged, according to law enforcement, the Tsarnaev brothers planned their Boston Marathon bombings undisturbed; Snowden's supervisors failed to notice that his attitude had taken a dangerous turn. Quoth Grenell, "We have to go back to the drawing board and reprioritize.

People are missing the point. The real problem (as usual) is the size of government. Any government spying agency that has to hire contractors that hire a doofus like Snowden is far too big. The dissemination of the TS details that far down is a sure sign that the entire assembly is broken. How can we possibly expect to protect our foreign agents when someone like Snowden (or obviously) Manning can so easily out them?

The real problem is the size of government from spy agencies to food testers to car washers. 10 times too big? 100 times too big? Probably the latter.

[kiryandil]

Snowden is not old enough to serve in the U.S. Senate

Al Franken is. AND he got elected. Sorry, Debs - you lose that point.

[kiryandil]

As Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., noted at a Senate intelligence hearing Wednesday, just because you're a champion swimmer doesn't mean you should be a Navy SEAL.

Babs Mikulski is an old Fascist thug who isn't fit to hold the office of US Senator. Sorry, Debs - you lose that point, too.