Posted on 12/05/2013 8:31:55 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
After an eventful six months, Edward Snowden will be hoping for a quieter time ahead – but not as quiet as life in a maximum-security American jail. In Russia since fleeing Hong Kong in June, the NSA computer specialist-turned-whistleblower is living under fairly restrictive conditions. But at least he still has access to the internet – crucial to him – although the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, made it a condition of granting Snowden temporary asylum that he do nothing to embarrass the US further.
Snowden has said he no longer has the documents he leaked, having passed all of them to the journalists he met in Hong Kong in June.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
That’s an assertion. Are you aware of the full breadth of what Snowden has released? It goes well beyond what can be justified in alerting us to the Obama administrations abuses (important), into specifically deeply undermining legitimate intelligence gathering, and wrecking legitimate foreign policy and exposing us to our foreign enemies.
“It seems clear that George Washington is guilty of treason.”
Given that the U.S is dead to you, it is not surprising that you see things that way.
I think you're half right. Both are guilty of treason, but I suspect Snowden has a better chance of paying the penalty for it than Obama does.
It's not so much what he told us about NSA domestic spying that is treasonous. It's what he gave to the Chinese and the Russians in repayment for their help that is.
Just as the Founding Fathers were guilty of treason. Snowden is a patriot who risked everything to expose a rogue government that's on the path to dictatorship. His actions weren't for personal gain, they were to save America from its lying spying government. We should stand with him.
"We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately" - Ben Franklin
“Just as the Founding Fathers were guilty of treason.”
You need to learn some more detail in your history, the definition of treason, and probably about Snowden.
The closest analogy would be Benedict Arnold - except that Arnold didn’t succeed. Just because Arnold helped the revolutionaries earlier and established his bravery in the camaign to take Ticonderoga doesn’t mean that attempting to give over West Point wasn’t treasonous. Actually, Arnold has a lot more to recommend him to our favor than Snowden.
“It’s what he gave to the Chinese and the Russians in repayment for their help that is.”
And you know he did this for a fact? Just because the “leaders” at the NSA have this concern, does not necessarily make it so. The very worst part of this for me is that we would not automatically call Snowden a traitor. Our government has fallen so far that it gives rise to thoughts of patriotism vs. treason.
“You do realize that his leaks went FAR beyond discclosing what the NSA was inappropriately doing to us, into what it was appropriately doing in foreign intelligence collection, yes? “
How would you gain any traction for your claims that the NSA was overstepping it’s authority w/o leaking damaging material? If what he claims to have taken is true and he were a total traitor, would he not have let it all out? I wish that I could take the easy way out and simply call Snowden a traitor, but I can’t because I know my own government is dishonest and rotten right down to it’s very core. Further, that in exchange for a taxpayer-provided paycheck there are tens of thousands of our “fellow citizens” who are quite willing to abet the government’s continued abuse of the rest of us. Kinda reminds me of Germany in 1938.
I’m referring to things he HAS let out. Not speculation over what he might. The U.S. governments’ word is not a part of the evaluation.
I'm getting a little tired of these comments that I need to "learn more" or "brush up" every time someone disagrees with me.
Signing the Declaration of Independence was an act of treason. They denounced their King and declared themselves independent of him and had they lost the war would have been executed.
I'm forever grateful for these men and their sacrifices but it was treason.
“I’m getting a little tired of these comments that I need to “learn more” or “brush up” every time someone disagrees with me.”
Maybe you should get the point. It’s not about fine disagreements. It’s about equating pink and purple and insisting they look the same because they both start with “p”.
Your perception of my opinion, just another opinion really.
And what exactly is your point, that the Founding Fathers weren't considered traitors?
And I suppose you think the Chinese and the Russians are providing all this support because they're such good guys and they hate to see anyone being persecuted by their government? Because they believe in freedom and democracy and world peace and international fair play and all the rest? Nonsense. They helped Snowned because they were paid, and paid well, for their support in the only currency Snowden had - information on our surveillance activites against them.
“And I suppose you think the Chinese and the Russians are providing all this support because they’re such good guys and they hate to see anyone being persecuted by their government?”
No, but I have yet to see any direct evidence of their being given anything. For openers, I doubt that Snowden carried anything with him. All of his purloined info was posted with others probably through his “girlfriend” @ Wikileaks. The whole mess is very sad, but I am not into conjecture as to who has what until I see concrete evidence of same. Snowden has destroyed the rest of his life. Why would he do that? I have seen nothing to suggest he was some left wing “activist.”
At the very least, Snowden has made it clear to all of us, the true dimensions of our government’s spying activities and most importantly, how they have run roughshod over all of us. He’s rained heavily on the NSA’s “parade,” and I am grateful that he has done so. We can no longer be in the “don’t worry, be happy” mode. The government’s vision of “making us safe” doesn’t wash.
Then maybe, just maybe, if an Agency is doing good things that are Constitutional and justifiable, perhaps they should refrain from doing things that are wrong and unconstitutional, to avoid just such an occurrence from someone with a conscience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.