Let's discuss this. Although I am very uncomfortable with the NSA spying on regular American folks (if indeed it is spying), there is something basically wrong with Mr. Snowden and in a greater sense, Bradley Manning.
Mr. Snowden took an oath. Bradley Manning took an oath. It is apparent that to either one, the oath that they took means nothing. To me, that is of much greater concern. Someone who violates their oath is pond scum of the lowest order.
There does come a time when your oath does not cover activities that are completely against the constitution, however, I am not completely convinced that this is one of those times. I am convinced that Bradley Manning's activities were not one of those times, Al Queda and Osama Bin Ladin used the data that Manning 'leaded'. Mai Lai was a perfect instance of the activities outweighing any oath or 'sense of duty.'
Mr. Snowden has provided information to The Guardian, moved to Hong Kong, and has now given information to a newspaper there. The first thing to come to mind is: Why Hong Kong, when their ties to the Chinese are so obvious? Could it be that Mr. Snowden was providing information to the Chinese government and was afraid he would get caught? I don't know the answer to that, but it does beg careful consideration as to his 'motives.'
If the NSA is warehousing only numbers called, time of call and numbers that made the call, and storing that information for a definitive period of time, then my basic concerns are minimized. If they are paying closer attention to calls from foreign numbers (suspected terrorists or numbers from 'hot spots' such as Yemen) to persons inside the USA, then I am even more supportive of the program. But I have questions, especially concerning any email interceptions, if there were any.
What I do know is my absolute disgust (although expected) of some of the other threads on this forum. For example, Seawytch says that of course, the NSA's current abuse of the Patriot Act is Republicans fault. It's Republicans fault because they (liberals) told us that the Patriot Act would be abused. It makes no matter that for eight years it was not, but since they came into power it is and they told us they would abuse it. So it is our fault. The logic of that arguement just defies explination and can be colored "STUPID."
Another point is that this 'scandal' is simply another example of gross mismanagement. But what can you expect from a community organizer?