Edward Snowden

If you haven't seen his interview, watch first, then read the rest of our post.




Our thoughts:

We saw no vengeance, attitude, or fame-seeking in the interview.  Did you?

Well spoken, no?  Speaks about privacy better than our president, no?

He seems very mature for his age and is well versed in National Security terms and concepts.

He obviously thought it out.  This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing.

The NSA scandal is a setback for Obama's image.  Coming out and saying this was for terrorism is like saying the Little Boy bomb was dropped on Hiroshima for redecorating purposes.

The NSA scandal is NOT a setback for the myriad of privacy violations still occuring against US citizens.  Obama has not ordered a halt, nor has the NSA stopped this assault.

Edward has succeeded to shame his former NSA co-workers.  He saw something wrong and acted, despite his $200k salary and Hawaiian comforts.  His former co-workers have either become too comfortable in their jobs, or too blind to right and wrong to react.  And did NSA boss, General Keith B. Alexander, ever consider resigning when he received these orders?  If not, why not?

We think the NSA should send all the data they've copied from the IRS's Lois Lerner's computer to Rep. Issa to assist with the IRS investigation.

We're gearing up for the coming smears of Edward.  Will he be a child molester?  A tax cheat?  A drug user?

Drudge links to a source that suggests Edward will defect to China.  He is a man without a country at the moment (we say with a touch of envy).  There is also talk of Iceland.  We think a powerful senator needs to stand up for Edward's safe return and testimony.  Protection too, if necessary.  If he does defect to China - he is a spy and should be charged with treason.

Speaking of China, Edward is well-spoken about the current cooperation between China and the US.  But her is a flaw in his logic.  He can use logic to predict the end-game if the NSA were to continue without exposure - Tyranny.  Yet he can't use current events and recent history to know where US-China relations will be in the coming decades?

The Manning Comparison:

As for comparisons with Manning, the Army soldier who gave information to Wikileaks during the Bush years, this is weak.  We only see one common reason in four:

1) Gay.  Manning is gay.  Edward is not.  This wouldn't be an issue we'd raise, however if you see the Manning protesters you'll notice one common trait among them, hence sexual preference is fair game.

2) Political.  Manning is a Liberal Progressive Communist.  He released the information for political purposes.  There is no evidence yet this is true of Edward.

3) Bulk.  Manning did a data dump.  He did not hold back on information that would lead to the deaths of US personnel or setbacks to the war's mission.  It appears Edward was selective with his release to limit the information to only the government's massive privacy breach with her citizens subjects.

4) Intent.  It appears that both Manning and Edward knew their release of confidential information would draw attention to something they saw as wrong.

Policy:

The NSA should identify every surveillance option and present those options to the President.

But we elect our leaders to represent our security needs and values such as privacy in their decisions.

The decision to violate the public's privacy, and thus our trust, was Obama's.  

It is a tyrant's decision he has yet to reverse.

Best proof yet that Obama has far-left inspirations.

Our conclusions (as of June 10):

We're on the fence about this guy's political leanings.  He says the NSA, and thus the president, are violating the privacy principles that Obama had promised in his campaign.  This suggests he was an Obama supporter, which a majority of government workers and contractors are.

But he speaks a bit too well with regards to privacy and liberty.  Could be a shadow tea partier.

Either of those two options are realistic and would no bearing on our opinion.  If instead Edward is a Libertarian, then no doubt he released the information for the right reasons.  But we also do not doubt he has psychiatric issues that the background screening missed.


Stunned:

We are still stunned by this story.  We are stunned that not one congressman or senator has come out and demanded this must be stopped immediately.

Obama has figuratively broken into every American's house and stole things that they hold private and dear.

It appears Rand Paul is making some noise, but where was the immediate and resounding scream from Capitol Hill?

Too numb to react to another scandal?  Or too comfortable with the idea of more data on the citizens subjects?


U/T: NiceDeb for bottom cartoon

See our first post in response to the NSA scandal.

UPDATED 6.11 3pm:

Mr. B has shares some good thoughts. 

We didn't know the story about Joseph Naccihio.  So there is one company executive who says "no" to the government.

UPDATED 6.11 5:30pm:

A Reddit post by someone who lives in an "Arab Spring country" where total surveillance is in place.

Everyone walking around is scared. They can't talk to anyone else because they don't know who is reporting for the government. Hell, at one time YOU were reporting for the government. Maybe they just want their kid to get through school. Maybe they want to keep their job. Maybe they're sick and want to be able to visit the doctor. It's always a simple reason. Good people always do bad things for simple reasons.

---

I actually get really upset when people say "I don't have anything to hide. Let them read everything." People saying that have no idea what they are bringing down on their own heads. They are naive, and we need to listen to people in other countries who are clearly telling us that this is a horrible horrible sign and it is time to stand up and say no.

A RINO's Opinion

We've been on the fence with the question: Patriot or Traitor?  Speaker Boehner came out today with his verdict: Traitor. 

So we're going to go with: Patriot.


Some Context

Last, we'd like to share some information with you to put our original post into context.  This is information that Gen. Alexander can verify with just a couple mouse clicks.

1) Karl resigned an Army command when he was ordered to ignore illegal activity.
2) Karl held a top secret clearance when he was Edward's age.
3) Karl has completed graduate-level work in the field of national security.


Our Updated Email Signature

UPDATED 6.12 noon:

Thanks for linking Doug Ross!