Posted on 06/23/2013 12:09:10 PM PDT by Nachum
"They're going to contrast the behavior of James Clapper, our national intelligence director, with Edward Snowden," said Paul. "Mr. Clapper lied in Congress in defiance of the law in the name of security. Mr. Snowden told the truth in the name of privacy."
Paul continued: "So I think there will be a judgment because both of them broke the law, and history will have to determine."
But the senator suggested his opinion of Snowden could change. "I do think for Mr. Snowden, if he cozies up to the Russian government, it will be nothing but bad for his name in history. If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this, I think there's a chance that he'll be seen as an advocate of privacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Snowden blew it. After his leaks, he should have turned himself in with press in tow and said he was ready to face any punishment in an attempt save his country from tyranny.
The public uproar would have been massive and influential on the govt.
Now he’s got no path forward that’s any good, and he’s in danger from not only the US govt, but every govt he approaches for succor.
Snowden is about to get an education on the George Will’s Law:
“America is an imperfect country surrounded by atrocious countries.”
The traitors are the ones in violation of the US Constitution.
These traitors are found in the Obama administration, the Federal depts, the intel agencies, the courts, most of congress, much of the media, and some right here on FR who only use the Constitution as it suits them.
There has already been a coup d’etat and this administration has corrupted the military, the courts, the intel/surveillance agencies and all the Federal depts. The Constitution means nothing to these “we are building a better society” scum.
The only thing that smells about Snowden is the blood of the US Constitution and freedoms it guarantees us against a corrupt govt.
Snowden saw his oath to protect secrets as being in conflict with his oath to uphold the Constitution. From that perspective, he chose the Constitution.
Not yet he ain't. The program he disclosed is unconstitutional and damaging to our liberty. There are other means of fighting terrorism than recording the lives of American citizens.
“We decided lesser evils in the GOP were OK so he had nowhere he could trust to go.”
Agreed. I think the only people hurt by Snowden is the ruling class elite. We now know a little more about how they manipulate us and the world.
This guy needs a medal of honor. Thanks to him we know all about the extent of the NSA spying. I for one at least want to know the police state is in place.
“The guy is a traitor. Look where he is and where he’s been.”
PS: The traitors are in the Whitehouse and the Congress selling us down the river even as we speak.
I wrote that days ago, but sat on it thinking about just that. The key is what I wrote is NOT classified information. It is freely available on telco specs, if you know where to look.
I'm not sure that matters to some people, but it is what it is.
If he is exposing what he believes to be government abuse of our privacy, why is he running his mouth about what kind of surveillance the NSA is doing in China?
Does he want to protect China’s privacy, too?
So I assume you believe that the multiple public reports of China hacking military computers and backdoored hardware chips in mission critical equipment resulted in China obtaining nothing greater than porn site visitation records for govt employees?
If you think they didn’t know far more than a low level schmuck to begin with, I have no hope for you.
And if he was such a treasure trove of data they DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE, why exactly did they put him on a plane and LET HIM GO? You think they downloaded his brain into the latest Chinese pirated hard drive?
Sometimes things are so obvious...but people with religious conviction to the guilt of ‘the traitor’ can’t be swayed by logical argument.
He revealed that we have been spying on Chinese telecoms and digital network hubs, as well as what the British have been up to with their own surveillance program.
Whether they already knew this or not, it doesn’t matter. He flew to Hong Kong and started blabbing about classified intelligence info to a country that while not an official enemy, doesn’t care much for us.
Why they didn’t keep him, I don’t know.
If you want to make him into a modern day Paul Revere, be my guest.
This thing stinks to high heaven, and I can only hope he doesn’t get so intoxicated by his own importance that he keeps blabbing about stuff not related to his supposed purpose of protecting the privacy of American citizens.
“This guy needs a medal of honor. Thanks to him we know all about the extent of the NSA spying. I for one at least want to know the police state is in place.”
Absolutely! Sure, we could say everybody suspected they had this level of information on each of us, but to have that confirmed as fact, is quite frightening.
Obamacare starts in 90+ days.... What could go wrong?
“Whether they already knew this or not, it doesn’t matter.”
Ya see it actually does if words are to continue meaning things. If I said to you that Free Republic was started by a conservative guy to further conservatism, would I be revealing that to you? Is it some national secret? Nope.
I swear that some Americans are the only people on the planet that didn’t know we spy on every other country. Their Biebers are utterly stuned that we have govt agencies doing exactly that.
The only revealing Snowden did is to people who live in fantasyland. And they are shocked (Shocked I tell you!) by it.
Why on earth are you so upset by the discovery? I knew. Most of FR knew. Most of OWS knew. DU knew, the guy at the bar knew. Yankee Stadium knew. In all likelihood, dogs in the pound knew and were barking about it trying to tell clueless humans about it whenever they checked their cages.
China knew, Russia knew all the worlds leaders and governors of the 57 American stater knew. But a few Americans, who I think all came to FR to spaz about it were sans clue.
So since all these men and beasts ‘knew’ (and yes, since telecom/IT people have freely and openly discussed details for years, people KNEW.) it cannot be said he ‘revealed’ squat and a case be made for it if the word is to retain any meaning.
Now as to Paul Revering him, I didn’t do that. In fact I have said he may YET turn out to be the traitor you claim he is. But that moment has not yet happened. As of now all he is is a guy that did what conservatives begged anyone on the inside to do before they became liberals and stabbed him in the back for doing it.
I was never under the impression that our government wasn’t spying on just about every nation on Earth, including our allies. I also knew that with the cloud of data that we generate, it would be a very tempting target for them to tap into.
What bothers me is some of the specifics he said about spying in regards to some of their internet hubs, and a university. They very well may have known we did it, but it didn’t help for him to confirm it.
For example, I know the Air Force likely has a vehicle that we have no idea exists, with amazing speed and capabilities. It is a different matter for a government employee (current or former) to acknowledge it.
I’m not crazy about his choice of hideout locations, either.
I may turn out to be wrong. He may have good intentions, and ultimately help awaken the American people. I just have a bad feeling about him. The whole thing seems odd.
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