Bolton: NSA leaker Edward Snowden is guilty of treason

WLS ^ | June 10, 2013 | John Dempsey

[maggief]

(CHICAGO)

(snip)

Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft on WLS that he thinks admitted leaker Edward Snowden, is guilty of treason:

"Number one, this man is a liar. He took an oath to keep the secrets that were shared with him so he could do his job. He said said he would not disclose them, and he lied. Number two, he lied because he thinks he's smarter and has a higher morality than the rest of us. This guy thinks he has a higher morality, that he can see clearer than other 299-million 999-thousand 999 of us, and therefore he can do what he wants. I say that is the worst form of treason".

[lepton]

“Snowden’s whistle blowing did not jeopardize lives and missions, “

Really? You can say that with any confidence whatsoever? At best it is a series of trade-offs.

[TexGrill]

Bolton is a neo-conservative ideologue. He’s a knee-jerk neo-conservative, meaning he doesn’t use reason to make his own political conclusions. He just listens to Karl Rove and follows his lead. Freepers are smarter than the neo-cons. We look at the NSA scandal as another opportunity to blast Obama, while Neo-cons become Obama’s drone defenders. Bolton gives us another reason to recognize the dangers of the neo-conservative movement.

[InterceptPoint]

Put in a phone number, get a name and address. Put that address back in, get any other phone numbers at that address. Put one of those phone numbers back in, get all the phone numbers they called. Put one of those numbers back in, get that person’s address. And so on, without limit, and keeping in mind that any or all of SSN, driver’s license, arrest record, credit history, utility bills, bank statement, credit card bill and more are in the mix as well.

The phone records that are being continuously collected along with other data accessible to the NSA would certainly allow that.

But Snowden went further. He used the word "Wiretap". Here is the quote:

"I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you, or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President if I had a personal email."

That is distinctly different capability. What you describe is "Data Mining". No doubt about that. But Snowden needs to define and, IMHO, limit the meaning that he attaches to the use of the word "Wiretap". Does anyone actually believe that Snowden could wiretap the President of the United States based on an Obama E-Mail address. I don't.

[who knows what evil?]

Enjoy your day.

...and you as well.

[flaglady47]

“He took an oath to keep the secrets that were shared with him so he could do his job.”

Adolph Hitler had his military henchmen take an oath to him also, a personal oath no less, not to the country, but to him personally. I guess none of those men who took an oath to Hitler should ever have banded together in an attempt to assassinate Hitler, right Mr. Bolton? After all, there was that oath. When inside any organization and you realize that the organization is corrupt and evil, you have a higher moral authority you must answer to, both your conscience based on right and wrong, and your God.

Then you become a whistle blower. It wasn’t like Mr. Snowden was blowing an arbitrary whistle over nothing of importance. Oh no, data mining the whole U.S. population and storing the information for future use by God knows who, is of minor importance, right? Right, Mr. Bolton? And with a political regime currently running the country that has no qualms inserting themselves into people’s private lives to destroy them politically with audits, withholding grants, personal smearing, etc. Wake up, Mr. Bolton, you are very wrong on this particular subject.

[Eagle of Liberty]

but there’s certainly a distinction between the kind of thing he’s done vs. a Bradley Manning or The Rosenbergs (or, for that matter, John Kerry, the Clintons and Obama).

Exactly...

Rockefeller's Treachery - 12/03/2005

"I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq – that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11."

So spoke Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) on "Fox Sunday" on November 14, 2005, who at the time of his trip was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and is now its vice chairman.

Please read the first paragraph once again, digest it (if your stomach can handle it), and consider its immense — if not treasonous — implications.

By himself and fully armed with America’s most sensitive intelligence, Sen. Rockefeller decided to go to three Arab countries — including Syria which is on the State Department’s list of terrorist regimes and a close ally of Saddam Hussein — and literally alert them to what ("in my view") might befall a neighboring Arab state.

This was Sen. Rockefeller’s judgment only four months after September 11th and a full year before President Bush had expressed any intention to go to war!

By its very nature, Sen. Rockefeller’s solo trip, his lofty rank on one of the senate’s most prestigious and sensitive committees, and most important his words were no doubt received for what they were — a clarion heads-up!

There is no doubt that even before he departed the palaces of his hosts, high officials from terrorist Syria, fair-weather-friend Saudi Arabia (that Sen. Rockefeller, with his Standard Oil inheritance, may feel very akin to), and even "moderate" Jordan, were telegraphing the president’s intentions to the Butcher of Baghdad: "Get ready! And whatever you have in the way of WMD, whatever can implicate us, get rid of them!"

What followed Sen. Rockefeller’s treachery was the lengthy and painstaking road to war and the prelude to ways that he and other leftists have tried to sabotage the president, compromise National Security and undermine our troops.

As author William J. Bennett has aptly asked: "What was Senator Rockefeller doing? What was he thinking? How about an investigation …into what exactly [he] told Syria and just what Syria might have done with the information…before it was made available to the U.N., the Senate, or the American people? Sen. Rockefeller may have seriously harmed, impeded, and hindered our war efforts, our troops, and the entire operation in the Middle East. This should be investigated immediately; and perhaps Senator Rockefeller should step down from the Intelligence Committee until an investigation is complete."

[dadfly]

yeah. so were sam adams, paul revere and patrick henry in the eyes of the crown. last time i checked, mr. bolton, your first oath as a citizen is to uphold the Constitution, which trumps the “law” of the republican establishment.

[Norseman]

>>Meanwhile, the American populace’s digital data is being stored en masse for future use.<<

And, as the IRS scandal has amply demonstrated, it will be put to future use.

So many idiots, on hearing of this sort of surveillance, say something like, “Hey, if you’re not doing anything wrong, what have you got to worry about?”

Well, the groups harassed by the IRS were not doing anything wrong. How hard is it to connect these dots? I don’t call people idiots routinely, but the people with their heads in the sand over surveillance are exactly that, idiots, blooming idiots.

Unfortunately, they can also vote, and did.

[ncpatriot]

I wonder if we even need a NSA? We are Americans and can deal with terror without a snooping agency

[CityCenter]

I completely agree with you. I think it’s the pervasiveness of this that is shocking, not the fact that it’s being done. I don’t trust this government to do the right thing at all, especially after the IRS scandal. But then the Founder’s didn’t really trust government either, did they? If we the people don’t rise up and take action, then we are also accountable.

[listenhillary]

What if Organizing for America has a backdoor access to the NSA files? IRS Data?

[catfish1957]

Trust the government? The government has become the enemy.

[Hayride]

I guess there comes a time when the curtain gets lifted on the pretend conservatives’ act, just ask Chief Justice Roberts. Honestly, I don’t think you raise to certain positions of power without being willing to go along with the plan to bring the US down. Any legit heated debate is over who gets to shove their snouts the deepest into the trough.

[Verginius Rufus]

Obama is out to destroy the Bill of Rights one by one. His attacks on the first and second amendment are well known. Now he's trying to make the fourth amendment meaningless.

If they were seriously trying to stop terrorism and were going after potential terrorists only, that would be one thing, but Obama has declared the war on terror over. I simply don't trust him. There is still a lot that is obscure on this latest story but the simplest explanation is that Obama wants to turn the US into a Communist-style state where the government spies on its citizens to control them, like East Germany or Cuba.

[Norseman]

>>What if Organizing for America has a backdoor access to the NSA files? IRS Data?<<

“If”? Seriously?

[MarDav]

“This guy thinks he has a higher morality, that he can see clearer than other 299-million 999-thousand 999 of us...”

Thanks for speaking up for ALL of the rest of America, Mr. Bolton. Bolton is a typical elected (in his case, appointed by an elected) official. To them, being “hired” by the voter, means they possess some brilliant, superior moral clarity than the rest of us. Such hubris!

The more we learn about this issue, Mr. B., the more we realize that our elected leaders have “lost the common touch,” and are making decisions that are contrary to our Constitution.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Yes I have been getting a little jaded on Bolton of late myself. He is full of it calling this guy a traitor.

[lepton]

“”I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you, or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President if I had a personal email.”

Personally I don’t believe he could do this. But he claims he could and, if so, this is definitely new news. But if, in fact, he couldn’t then I think it puts much of what he has told us in doubt.
*********
It’s the way the Internet works. If you have access to the servers, you can grab the packets. If you can access enough servers you can guarantee you get all of someone’s traffic, as the only difference is what server it is traversing when. Whether you can decrypt anything secured is another matter, but I’d expect NSA has the horsepower for that.

By the way, are you unfamiliar with the Internet “museum” that flashes (or did) thousands of e-mails every minute on displays?

[USNBandit]

1. Manning is definitely a traitor, unless you believe the government isn't allowed to have any secrets regarding it's dealings with foreign powers. Manning downloaded everything he had access for and gave it away. There was no act of conscience on his part. He did it because he was a disgruntled homosexual who joined the Army.

As far as Snowden committing treason goes, treason is a very hard charge to prove. Not because treasonous acts aren't committed, but because it requires two eye witnesses to prove. it is written that way in the Constitution. There are plenty of other criminal charges that can be filed against him based upon other types of evidence.

I find it humorous that Obama was undone on this one by one of his disheartened supporters.

[varyouga]

If he tried to stay anonymous, his ass would be on a rendition plane the same day.

The only way guys like him can stay alive is by staying as public as possible.