Not one ounce of libertarian in me. I get the points of those against Snowden on our side like Bachmann, Bolton, Cruz and Gaffney. But I agree with West. Spying on citizens is wrong and that is not securing the public. Still Snowden is a loopy Libertarian Ron Pauler.
With respect, may I suggest something to think about? One of the main reasons we have arrived at our present state of affairs with the federal government totally out of control and the Constitution all but meaningless... is that people cling to the notion of politicians being on their side.
Many so-called conservatives were just fine with Bush and the Republicans greatly increasing the power of the executive branch and the intrusiveness of the government's intelligence and security operations. The problem is that long after 9/11 and long after 'the emergency', the power and precedent remains. Now we have a nightmare leftist administration taking those powers and expanding them further. Do you really trust your 'side' to not do the same thing during the next Republican administration? Power corrupts... and each new administration has plunged us deeper into an Orwellian state.
Agree or don't, but this nation has reached the point where we probably cannot restore it through voting. A true conservative has very few, if any, allies in the federal government. Certainly he no longer has a side.