Snowden: I raised NSA concerns internally over 10 times before going rogue

[Kevin_Kennedy]

You dumb ***** don't even know, do you?

IF....

And ONLY IF...

Snowden had released documents that pertained to the NSA spying on Americans, he could be forgiven for being a whistle blower with no place to go.

But he hasn't stopped at documents on the NSA working inside America. Has he?

Do some ******* leg work and take your ******* blinders off.....He has leaked information on processes and abilities AND gathered information on our allies and enemies.

If ever I see the man, I'll kill him. He is a traitor to his nation and to his people.

/end of story.

You're so tough.

Regardless, what has Snowden leaked that has led to the death of anybody? Give us evidence. Furthermore, Snowden didn't leak anything himself. He turned that information over to journalists that he trusted with explicit instructions to go through rigorous editorial processes to make sure that nobody could be harmed by the disclosures. This was not a simple document dump like you're making it out to be.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Snowden is a coward. If he were a man of honor he'd face the consequences of his actions instead of running off to Russia. For a man supposedly concerned about govt corruption and overreach, he picked a bad country to hide in. Russia is not known for human rights or having a just system. He's Putin's plaything now. It's sad to see self-proclaimed 'patriots' defend this honor-less criminal.

Are you kidding? Snowden would be a fool to feed himself to the lions. They would railroad his ass to Guantanamo and sentence him to some federal prison for the rest of his life.

I'm not assuming he has provided Russia or any other nation with any information which is capable of doing anything more than embarrassing the power freaks in our government who thought they had a perfect right to do what they were doing to us. Nor should you make any such assumption. Because if Snowden's revelations were in fact compromising to our national security you may rest assured we'd be hearing about it loud and clear.

So far all we've heard about it how pissed off the federal aristocracy is at Snowden.

Are YOU kidding? You don't think that Russia has combed through every file on that computer and is planning on taking advantage of the info they get from it? Just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean that's not the case. You know that Putin is a ruthless power hungry leader right?

Prove that Snowden even took a computer with that information on it with him to Russia, let alone that the Russian government has had any access to it. Otherwise you're simply making up nonsense. Again.

 

[MikeK]

You dumb ***** don't even know, do you?

IF....

And ONLY IF...

Snowden had released documents that pertained to the NSA spying on Americans, he could be forgiven for being a whistle blower with no place to go.

But he hasn't stopped at documents on the NSA working inside America. Has he?

Do some ******* leg work and take your ******* blinders off.....He has leaked information on processes and abilities AND gathered information on our allies and enemies.

If ever I see the man, I'll kill him. He is a traitor to his nation and to his people.

/end of story.

Let's see some specifics if you know so much.

What you've said here amounts to a heated accusation with absolutely no substance. Instead of accentuating the negative, why not consider the positive aspect of what he's done -- which is put the screws to the rising Big Brother government.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

The guy stabbed this country in the back...Talking about spying on Americans by the millions doesn't = outing us to our enemies.

Matthew,

Who are these enemies?

You are drawing conclusions with no supportive evidence. So far all I've seen is evidence that the U.S. Government has become less than that which was intended by the Framers of our Constitution and more like that which is outlined in the prognostic imaginings of George Orwell.

Edward Snowden is a whistleblower -- not a traitor.

Snowden is a hero. See signature...

Incorrect.

He’s a criminal suspect, and in no way a ‘hero.’

The notion is ignorant nonsense. The crimes he allegedly committed are serious, and should he ever be convicted he should be sentenced to prison accordingly.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Are YOU kidding? You don't think that Russia has combed through every file on that computer and is planning on taking advantage of the info they get from it? Just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean that's not the case. You know that Putin is a ruthless power hungry leader right?

The information Snowden revealed is without question embarrassing to our increasingly authoritarian and intrusive government. But Snowden has repeatedly said he's revealed nothing which might be useful to a hostile entity.

That leaves us with a choice to either believe him or to not believe him. You've chosen to not believe him and to draw negative conclusions. I've made the opposite choice because I respect his intelligence and his intentions, which obviously are in no way self-serving.

That was never Snowden’s determination or decision to make – which is the fundamental point his supporters fail – or refuse – to understand.

Consequently this issue has nothing to do with ‘believing’ or ‘not believing,’ it has solely to do with the fact that Snowden likely violated the law, that the surveillance programs are both legal and Constitutional until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, and where the subjective perception by some that the NSA’s activities are ‘wrong’ in no way mitigates the crimes Snowden allegedly committed.

 

[MikeK]

The guy stabbed this country in the back...Talking about spying on Americans by the millions doesn't = outing us to our enemies.

Specifically who are these "enemies" he "outed" us to? And specifically what information did he give them which could be harmful to us?

If you can't answer those questions you really shouldn't be putting forth such jingoistic nonsense.

 

[MikeK]

Are YOU kidding? You don't think that Russia has combed through every file on that computer and is planning on taking advantage of the info they get from it? Just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean that's not the case. You know that Putin is a ruthless power hungry leader right?

The information Snowden revealed is without question embarrassing to our increasingly authoritarian and intrusive government. But Snowden has repeatedly said he's revealed nothing which might be useful to a hostile entity.

That leaves us with a choice to either believe him or to not believe him. You've chosen to not believe him and to draw negative conclusions. I've made the opposite choice because I respect his intelligence and his intentions, which obviously are in no way self-serving.

That was never Snowden’s determination or decision to make – which is the fundamental point his supporters fail – or refuse – to understand.

Consequently this issue has nothing to do with ‘believing’ or ‘not believing,’ it has solely to do with the fact that Snowden likely violated the law, that the surveillance programs are both legal and Constitutional until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, and where the subjective perception by some that the NSA’s activities are ‘wrong’ in no way mitigates the crimes Snowden allegedly committed.

There are two ways to examine this issue; either from the Government's perspective or from that of the People. You've made it clear whose side you are on and at a different time your position would be viewed as that of a Tory.

It doesn't mean you are wrong. It simply shows which drumbeat you follow. But in no way does it specifically demonstrate that Snowden has behaved maliciously, or disloyally, or that he revealed any information which could be damaging to the United States and its loyal citizens. His action served to reveal a crime which the Government is perpetrating against the People by brazenly ignoring our Constitutional protections.

At the bottom line of this issue, can you refer to any specific and visible way Snowden's action has harmed this Nation and it's People?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Matthew,

Who are these enemies?

You are drawing conclusions with no supportive evidence. So far all I've seen is evidence that the U.S. Government has become less than that which was intended by the Framers of our Constitution and more like that which is outlined in the prognostic imaginings of George Orwell.

Edward Snowden is a whistleblower -- not a traitor.

Snowden is a hero. See signature...

Incorrect.

He’s a criminal suspect, and in no way a ‘hero.’

The notion is ignorant nonsense. The crimes he allegedly committed are serious, and should he ever be convicted he should be sentenced to prison accordingly.

Keep licking that jackboot, boy!

 

[MikeK]

Are YOU kidding? You don't think that Russia has combed through every file on that computer and is planning on taking advantage of the info they get from it? Just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean that's not the case. You know that Putin is a ruthless power hungry leader right?

The information Snowden revealed is without question embarrassing to our increasingly authoritarian and intrusive government. But Snowden has repeatedly said he's revealed nothing which might be useful to a hostile entity.

That leaves us with a choice to either believe him or to not believe him. You've chosen to not believe him and to draw negative conclusions. I've made the opposite choice because I respect his intelligence and his intentions, which obviously are in no way self-serving.

That was never Snowden’s determination or decision to make – which is the fundamental point his supporters fail – or refuse – to understand.

Consequently this issue has nothing to do with ‘believing’ or ‘not believing,’ it has solely to do with the fact that Snowden likely violated the law, that the surveillance programs are both legal and Constitutional until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, and where the subjective perception by some that the NSA’s activities are ‘wrong’ in no way mitigates the crimes Snowden allegedly committed.

Senator Diane Feinstein is a Democrat and in many ways she is as Conservative as it gets. She is an influential member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and she has been among the most vocal proponents of the NSA's aggressive "anti-terrorist" surveillance activities. But today Senator Feinstein learned the NSA has been actively wiretapping and otherwise surreptitiously monitoring her, her committee and its members' actions, and she is raising hell about it. She found out about this because Snowden blew the whistle on it. And I'm wondering how you feel about that.

The ability to wiretap and otherwise invade the privacy of anyone, from the President of the U.S. to the leaders of our allies and everyone down the line is an extraordinarily dangerous capability. And while it might be that those who presently are in a position to make use of that menacing power are patriotic, trustworthy and benign -- what about tomorrow? Whose fingers will be on the switch tomorrow?

How does this square with your obsession with the irrefutable majesty of the Law. You seem to have adopted the character of Inspector Javert in his relentless pursuit of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. So I suggest you give some more thought to the critical factor of motive in Edward Snowden's example. What he's done is shine a light on an insidiously dangerous subterranean element of our national intelligence services. An element which has apparently taken upon itself a power which supersedes any and all other powers. This action is unlawful. It is criminal. And it richly deserved to be exposed.

Edward Snowden is an American hero.