GOVERNMENT SMEAR CAMPAIGN BEGINS …
Taking a page out of the book of national intelligence czar James Clapper, another high-profile member of the administration of Barack Obama is condemning Edward Snowden – a former contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA) whose leaks helped expose the federal government’s Orwellian domestic spy network.
“Edward Snowden is a coward, he is a traitor and he has betrayed his country,” Kerry told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd. “And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so.”
Wow …
Snowden is currently in Moscow after the federal government revoked his passport last year.
Two months ago he spoke via satellite to a gathering of technology experts in Austin, Texas.
“Would I do it again?” Snowden said of his decision to expose the government’s domestic spy machine. “Absolutely. Regardless of what happens to me, this is something we had a right to know. I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. And I saw the Constitution was being violated on a massive scale.”
Amen, dude … amen.
In a separate interview, Kerry parroted the oft-repeated, never-substantiated claim that “people may die” as a result of Snowden’s disclosures.
“We have evidence that people are in additional danger because operational security has been breached, because terrorists have learned firsthand about methods and mechanisms by which the United States collects intelligence,” Kerry told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
Really?
Then prove it …
This website has consistently praised Snowden for his courage in exposing the government’s spy ring – and consistently called out the government for its hypocrisy/ habitual dishonesty in attacking Snowden. Expect that to continue as the smear campaign against this heroic whistleblower intensifies.
136 comments
I think Kerry is correct according to the letter of the law and according to common sense reasoning.
I liken Snowden’s posture on facing the music of his decision and actions to that of the torture proponents and perpetrators in Iraq, etc.
He clearly broke the law even for what he thinks are legitimate reasons and in the nation’s interest. If so, and if he’s such a patriot then why not accept the decision of a jury of his peers?
If Cheney and his sycophants think torture is acceptable and if those who perform it think they are patriots then why not do it and accept the consequences of their “sacrifice.”
They can’t have it both ways. They can’t hide behind the label of Patriot without accepting the consequent actions and reactions.
In addition to his “oath”, Snowden would have been required to sign an agreement concerning the secrecy of the information he would see and what the consequences of unauthorized disclosure would be. So his “heroic” action was to run.
“I as just following orders”
It is not an “order”. It is an agreement whereby you pledge not to reveal information under penalty of the law. (You remember laws don’t you?). If you can’t or won’t do that, then don’t sign and you can exit the building. It is real simple. Secrecy can even still apply when you leave that employ. It is spelled out in the agreement that you are free to sign or not sign.
If he signed a contract to obey the Constitution, then he has conflicting contractual obligations…so there’s that.
Didn’t Obama do that too? Something about an oath? Is that legally binding?
A coward would have just stayed there and collect the nice checks, all the while knowing it was wrong.
Apparently you havin’t been paying attention to how the present administration runs rough shod over the laws and Constitution of this country. He, Snowden, would be walking into a card game with the other player’s stacked deck and they would be changing the rules as they went along. He would also be facing a judge that would allow every chicken poop angle the prosecutors wanted and deny his defense any opportunity to prove he, Snowden, was right. Every item he would bring up would be disallowed due to “National Security” interests. They could try him in absentia if they wanted and I would like to see some high profile lawyers work that but of course none would, the Gestapo, I mean IRS, would fix that.
TBG just made a couple dozen grandmotherly type ladies mutter, “Fuck” under their breath….
If Cheney and his sycophants think torture is acceptable and if those who perform it think they are patriots then why not do it and accept the consequences of their “sacrifice.”
Sir, you make a good point.
But……..(and it’s a Kardashian size butt…..)
In TBG’s oft stated opinions against the legalization of torture, he has often been asked the “what would you do if you had someone in your custody who you knew had knowledge of the location of a nuclear bomb set to go off in one hour in NYC?” question.
The answer is always, “Torture the piss out of them until they give it up!”
“Bbbbut you are against making torture legal?”
“Yes.”
Snowden also gave up a great deal.
Had he “followed channels,” TBG doubts that we the people would have ever heard of any of it, or that anything would have changed.
What TBG is (very ineloquently) saying, is that it was Snowden’s duty to expose the *Constitutionally illegal* activities of NSA. It was not his duty to set himself up for the maximum amount of butthurt in doing so.
If you’ve got the time to pick up the grenade and toss it back…you are not a coward because you didn’t jump on it, instead.
I figure if you are going that route – if you torture the guy, and you don’t find out where the bomb is – you have to go through the exact same torture… by the guy you tortured.
How many WMD did we find by torturing the camel jockeys? Hint: there weren’t any.
TBG thinks we are in agreement on this.
It was not his duty to set himself up for the maximum amount of butthurt in doing so.If you’ve got the time to pick up the grenade and toss it back…you are not a coward because you didn’t jump on it, instead.
——-
Not a coward – a goofball. I’d spare him the butthurt if I could, but I don’t think anyone would listen to me. It’s a heartless world when you’re a goofball.
If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.
No shit…. I’m dumb as fuck and tough as a rhino!
What has changed Bubba? It’s harder to get a clearance now but that’s about it.
Point taken.
Perhaps the average person’s understanding of the size, scope and general unaccountability of the Federal government has been ratcheted up just a bit?
Hardly, those of us who pay attention already were and still do. The other ninety percent can tell you who attended Kim Kardashian’s wedding but aren’t really sure if Kerry isn’t the actor who played the judge in “My Cousin Vinny”.
Kerry can only dream of the looks and gravitas of Judge Haller.
Kerry looks more and more like Odo, with each passing day.
They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam
——-
Didn’t they *also* clearly break the law?
Who is going to die because its been proven the government is blatantly and unapologetically snooping on its citizens?
The best would be to see every incumbent’s political career die, but we know that won’t happen.
The only person that “may die” as a result of this is Snowden, when Oblamo, Holder, Kerry and Co can figure out where to send the drone.
Looks like Kerry may still hope to run for president, appealing to the ignorant masses with his WWII rhetoric.
Maybe if he joins the Republican Party??
Both Kerry and Obama should join the Republican party, as they are both warmongering neocons.
You left out Hillary.
nikki too
Imagine 4-8 years of having to watch that deflated football face deliver lie after lie.
If he appeals to ignorant masses then he obviously appeals to you, the biggest mass of ignorance in existence.
Kiss my ass, old man.
Such an enlightened response. But then we have come to expect that of you.
You started it, clown.
Mommy, mommy he hit me back first.
Kerry was bound to get one thing right…
And what is that? Picking a pair of glasses that don’t make his face look so goddamn long?
Okay two things. Ol’Horse face got a better pair of classes annnnnd Snowden is a coward.
Snowden is a coward.
Usually we agree, Col.
Not on this, though.
TBG understands that there may be disagreement on whether Snowden is a patriot or traitor, often it is a surprisingly fine line.
I’d consider the Patriot moniker if he gave the interview from somewhere in the US, be it prison or penthouse. Doing it from Russia especially in the light of the disclosure that he had engaged in espionage and spying for the US makes him a coward and a traitor.
A coward would never have owned up to stealing the information. A traitor wouldn’t have tried to report this information to his superiors, and been told to keep quiet.
I see him as neither.
A coward owns up to his deeds far from the repercussions of his acts. A traitor takes an oath and knowingly violates it with full knowledge of the harm the violation will cause.
So had he never released the information, but continued to pointlessly spy on American citizens, in your eyes THEN he would be a patriot?
Interesting.
Had he just done his job, he’d be an employee, not a patriot..
Had he gone to the chair of the House Intelligence Committee with the press in tow and said he had evidence of a violation of the US Constitution, I’d call him a patriot.
Had he gone to the chair of the House Intelligence Committee with the press in tow and said he had evidence of a violation of the US Constitution, I’d call him a patriot.
TBG would also, but TBG would have probably never heard of Snowden.
Snowden is a huge screw up that was given a clearance by a corrupt investigation company. His employer got away with hiring a mentally unstable individual who believed his job was to steal govt. documents and save the nation. He was further corrupted by a gay foreign newspaper hack. Together they have turned his law breaking in to a business. If violating an oath and stealing are heroic Fits you are one confused individual with no loyalty except to your idea of corruption is honorable.
Because the multiple and quite numerous violations of that same oath by those he exposed is somehow honorable, eh?
mentally unstable
[citation needed]
Liberal = mentally unstable
I gather you’d be just happier to not confirm what you were already scared to be true?
thanks N
“Obama is the coward who sold us out to NSA blackmail, and both Obama and Kerry are traitors.”–the American people
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
Hear hear!
Uh all the programs were started under Bush, and you so called conservatives said nothing when the ACLU brought suit to have the spying stopped. If you want to blame someone look in the mirror.
And we see how much Obama not only did to stop it, but increase it 10 fold.
Nonsense, the same programs have been in operation since 2004. Typical political hack response.
Oh, so Obama did stop them, and defund them. He has no problem changing other laws he doesn’t like (How many times has he changed ACA after is passing?)
Got it.
Another political hack response. Just like Carl Rove. If you don’t like the subject change the topic. The fact is people who call themselves conservative don’t really care about this unless they can use it to bash Obama. If Bush or Romney were President, they would be pointing fingers at people who are upset about the surveillance and calling them names. Like “liberal” and “traitor”.
I have no respect for political hacks an opportunist. The spying will not stop because people like you are only interested in it if you can make a political point.
The ACLU tried to stand up to Bush when the spying started. Conservatives bashed them for doing so.
Another typical liberal response.
I didn’t want the PATRIOT act when Bush was in office, and since then the technology has only grown (including billions spent on a NSA datacenter in Utah), I sure don’t want it now. Obama could stop the spending, could have made it a campaign promise to be elected, gotten the people on his side with it–but no–he kept it and went full throttle ahead with it. He’s as guilty as anyone, if not more so. His authorizations allowed for us to needlessly investigate our allies leaders, and then later make jokes about it dinner parties.
You can’t blame this on anyone else but Obama.
LOL
Well, when that’s all you got
Obama sold his soul to the NSA. He sold us out to neocons to the point that he became a born again neocon. The people voted to get rid of them, but they are still there, using Obama as a puppet. Thus democracy is gone because Obama wanted to be president so bad that he refused to bow out.
Boomerang “double agent counter” 101, 404, 901…………
Djibouti bomb counter 807…..
Djibouti
TBG hears the drums echoing tonight…
Cadets! What is the capitol of Djibouti??
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She’s coming in twelve-thirty flight….
Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say: “Hurry boy, it’s waiting there for you”
To SPAWAR workers the answer should be TOTO-ly obvious.
Does driving a car powered by Djiboutian oil make “Rosanna” hornier than Nigerian or Saudi petrochemicals?
Will T-Rav “Hold the Line”?”
TBG fears he is not in Kansas anymore.
This is an excellent retort to SPAWAR workers. It makes absolutely zero sense, but unfortunately does NOT mention the Boko Haram and blood diamonds!!
E Norma Scok 8439584660
John Bigboote: We’ve had our chance! Your Overthruster’s for shit! We’re lost!
Lord John Whorfin: One more word out of you, Bigbooty…
John Bigboote: [screaming] BIG-BOO-TAY! TAY! TAY!
[Whorfin shoots him]
According to the “Art of War”, the section covering spies is very telling.
From the double agent we best learn how to convey “fitsnews” information to the Graham/Scott/Clyburn enemy…….
The Fitsnews “Ruler” must know all sorts of spies…this wisdom comes from the double agent and MUST be treated generously…
A fitsnews “monk’s” every move depends on this key………..
The process of thinking through the symmetry laws which enable letters to fit together to make words, will eventually be refined to exactly iterate the symmetry laws which allow donut shaped fields (which are the elements of every form- subatomic to intergalactic) to CREATE anything.
When those low frequency sound waves become ordered or
COHERENT like a laser – then they can form orderly wave
column like ENVELOPES which become steering “WAVE
GUIDES” for much higher microwave and optical (light)
frequencies. The skill to arrange these long wave STILL
POINTS of both sonic energy and capacitive charge – is called
STEERING YOUR CHI – in Tai Chi. HIIYYYYAAAAA!
Hmm…….elementally steering CHi …..is the exact opposite of finding Pi…!!
The skill in steering “threads” of thought encapsulates sonic Chi and capacitive Pi to reveal harmonic symbiant actions on the field of any particular battle..!!
Anyone involved with advertising or campaign donor shakedowns are highly skilled in this endeavor.
A wise monk understands the call of fresh honey in an ear….
2:58 pm EDT on 5/28/14 — Kroger and Food Lion are out of aluminum foil…
Common rookie mistake on the part of shoppers.
PRO TIP:
Aluminum foil and tin foil are NOT the same thing. For haberdashery, tin is the only way to go.
Snowden is a hero, not a traitor. Without his leaks, we would never have known our government was spying on US! Think Pentagon Papers.
“People may die” when all the shit the NSA does fails to stop terrorist attacks time after time anyways. Fuck the NSA and fuck Kerry. Stay safe, Snowden.
Everyone savor the delicious irony of the Winter Soldier himself accusing someone of treason:
“Kerry acknowledged in that [April 1971 Senate] testimony that even going to the peace talks [where he met with the North Vietnamese] as a private citizen was at the ‘borderline’ of what was permissible under U.S. law, which forbids citizens from negotiating treaties with foreign governments.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39744-2004Sep21.html
snowden has exactly what he deserves. enjoy moscow you stupid fuck, until putin runs out of uses for you. and the confused hicks in this thread need their bearings checked. they will shoot him in russia. not hack his gmail.
“EEEEEEEEEEdiot wind.”
Just pointing out that every time TBG sees your handle he (silently) pronounces it Bob Dylan style.
Just. Can’t. Help. It.
BTW, TBG’s bearings are fine, but the CV joints make a loud clicking noise when the steering wheel is turned to the far left.
I wish I could shock Herman Munster’s nuts with a car battery & a pair of old rusty jumper cables.
Maybe then he’d actually look alive for once.
The irony of Snowden running to communist counties is hilarious. Think of him as a hero or traitor, he is still a hilariously hypocritical moron.
Any port in a storm.
Any port without extradition to the US.
Narrows it down, doesn’t it?
I believe there’s some S. American countries on that list as well.
you make no sense ?
Sorry it’s over your head.
idiot cam why bother, I proved you a fake idiot 3 years ago ?
Think so, I Don’t Care You Don’t Matter.
Russia is hypercapitalist in many aspects today. With oligarchs and GINI index at US levels.
The real “coward” and “traitor” is John Kerry – NOT Edward Snowden. Mister Snowden is a true Patriot and a Hero. Kerry and Obama disgust me. I wouldn’t cross the street to “piss” on either one of them them if they were both on fire
I find it hard to support a “patriot” like Snowden who screamed about rights violation and then fled to Russia, the obvious paradise of human rights. Not a patriot. Not a visionary. Just an attention whore and traitor.
He gave up the good life in Hawaii and wound up in Russia and will live the rest of his life looking over his shoulder…but it’s not enough for you, huh?
I’d rather kill your granny.
Yes..our government never lies to us or skews the media to fit its purpose, does it?
The U.S. maneuvered him into staying in Russia. He could be in Ecuador or Iceland by now, which was his intention.
Coming from Kerry that is remarkable. A man who faked wounds to get out of Nam!
Sam is comming for a interview.
Don’t worry,behappy!
Typical of you “conservative” chicken hawks. There is no evidence this guy faked an injury other than the Fake News network funded propaganda and he did go to “Nam.” and he did fight.
Yet you would vote for and support two guys who used family connections and money to avoid going to Nam, requiring others to go in their place. Then the same two guy who were too chicken to do their duty for their country, got us into another war based on lies and faulty intelligence sending thousands of more Americans to their unnecessary death.
What a POS you Chicken Hawks are.
Why do you refer to Clinton and Obama. Are you not a loyal lock step Democrat?
You are either uninformed or most like stupid!
I am an independent. You are a typical Fake News sycophant. If there is no evidence it must be hidden. It simply can’t be there is no evidence, that would not support the Fake News stories.
People who fought in a war are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. If they were there, they were at risk of being killed and they put their life on the line for their country. That includes Kerry and McCain. Which is more than Bush, Cheney or you can say. But keep up the Chicken Hawk stuff. It proves you to be the POS you are.
Benefit of the doubt is what idiots gave Obama.
I forgot to mention that three “criminals” or “traitors” should be tried as such; then hanged until dead. These three are the infamous “Benghazi Trio” – Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Leon Panetta.
Why the long face John?
He can’t help it.
****
John Kerry Walked into a bar.
The bartender said, ” Why the long face?”
…
……
Badoom Pshhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Kerry fuck ups in Vietnam killed more Americans than Snowden ever will. It’s a shame he wasn’t a casualty of “friendly fire”. All of this Snowden talk to try and get the topic off of one of his latest incompetence… Benghazi.
Snowden is an imperfect person but he’s much more of a hero than a coward. Regardless of his intentions, he did us all a good thing by exposing light to what out government never wanted us to know.
I’ve also noticed all of the personal attacks (by Kerry and others, including some in this thread) but those miss the point. By focusing entirely on Snowden, they want to divert attention from where it should belong — and that is on the legality and justification for this massive spying program. It is much easier to call Snowden a coward or traitor than it is to actually justify the program that he exposed.
It’s not about the man – it’s about the action. They execute the insane for actions they might not understand.. why not reward the goofy for actions while he wasn’t looking John Wayne enough?
For heaven’s sake, wake up you guys. Snowden is no hero. He’s just a frustrated high school dropout who wanted instant fame, And he did so by betraying us.
Us, who, Paleface?
Mind my asking which tribe? (of Native Indian.. I’ll ask about the Jewish thing later)
…(of Native Indian.. I’ll ask about the Jewish thing later)
You stole my thunder, amigo.
My ancestors killed raped and stole the gold of your ancestors, Tonto… of course they killed raped and stole the gold of mine, too…
I hate myself for loving me!
TBG’s just a nom de plume.
In real life, mostly WOP, Kraut, and *traditional* Scots/Irish ancestry but paternal and maternal lineages have been in SC for 250-300 years….
French, English, and Scots/Irish. In SC since 1689, Charlestown if you will, via New York, London, and France.
Frank Howard is just another nom de plume as you say. I ain’t no Alabama redneck; I’ve been here too long for that label. I still think I dated yo cousin back in Barlow Bend though.
If they’ve been here that long there’s some Cherokee blood mixed in there Tonto.
True. Or Westo, if TBG wants to be a real badass!
Family legend has it, that back in the 1800 the Scots/Irish (Heh!) branch had some olive complected, jet black haired members who were really sharp businessmen.
TBG may be more accurate than originally thought.
Need to get one of those DNA tests done!
He’s a high school drop out, but likely a whole lot smarter than you are.
They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.
We watched the United States falsification of body counts, in fact the glorification of body counts. We listened while month after month we were told the back of the enemy was about to break. We fought using weapons against “oriental human beings.” We fought using weapons against those people which I do not believe this country would dream of using were we fighting in the European theater. We watched while men charged up hills because a general said that hill has to be taken, and after losing one platoon or two platoons they marched away to leave the hill for reoccupation by the North Vietnamese. We watched pride allow the most unimportant battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn’t lose, and we couldn’t retreat, and because it didn’t matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point, and so there were Hamburger Hills and Khe Sanhs and Hill 81s and Fire Base 6s, and so many others.
We are here to ask, and we are here to ask vehemently, where are the leaders of our country? Where is the leadership? We’re here to ask where are McNamara, Rostow, Bundy, Gilpatrick, and so many others? Where are they now that we, the men they sent off to war, have returned? These are the commanders who have deserted their troops. And there is no more serious crime in the laws of war. The Army says they never leave their wounded. The marines say they never even leave their dead. These men have left all the casualties and retreated behind a pious shield of public rectitude. They’ve left the real stuff of their reputations bleaching behind them in the sun in this country….
———
But snowden is a coward and a traitor.
Nobody is going to read all that.
I’m sure that was your standard excuse in school.. along with “will that be on the test?”
I did and it’s not the first time, it always reinforces my disgust for this POS.
The vast majority of the Vietnam “rape and pillage”, “ears and evil” stories are self serving exaggerations or out right lies. The idea that we only fire bombed “oriental human beings” in WWII or Vietnam it out right false, we used incendiary weapons against Germany as well. The idea that “special weapons” were used in Vietnam is patently false, napalm has been in use since WWI and the only chemical weapon ever used in Vietnam was CS gas, a riot control agent.
The vast majority of the Vietnam “rape and pillage”, “ears and evil” stories are self serving exaggerations or out right lies.
——-
Yeah.. I know.. the vast majority of *all* stories are self serving exaggerations or out right lies. When the teller is an authority figure, it’s even vaster…er.
Of all the people to call someone a traitor, John,, Benedict Arnold, Kerry is the last one to speak. Snowden , in my opinion, is a hero. He gave the country knowledge of what the govt. is doing to US. Since Kerry sat before the senate and derated our soldiers in Vietnam, he has no right to say anything. He is the lowest of the low.
IRONY, thy name is Kerry.
Even for a dumbass liberal Democrat politician…this shows a shocking lack of self awareness.
OTOH, maybe it’s taunting.
He used up his conscience with that whole My Lai thing.
Oh, really? Just last weekend Obama told our enemies in Afghanistan and around the world the “Chief of State’s” (top CIA agent in charge) name in Afghanistan and a timetable to pull the troops out w/o consulting our generals on the ground. Obama is the traitor. Snowden is a whistleblower.
What the NSA is doing is why American Patriots did not want the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 passed or extended.
Obama Defends Controversial Policy of Not Invading Countries for No Reason
WEST POINT (The Borowitz Report) — President Obama raised eyebrows with his West Point commencement address Wednesday by offering a defense of his controversial foreign-policy doctrine of not invading countries for no reason.
Conservative critics were taken aback by Obama’s speech, which was riddled with incendiary remarks about only using military force for a clearly identified and rational purpose.
Obama did not shy away from employing polarizing rhetoric, often using words such as “responsible” and “sensible” to underscore his message.
Harland Dorrinson, a fellow at the conservative think tank the Center for Global Intervention, said that he was “stunned” to see Obama “defend his failure to engage the United States in impulsive and random military adventures.”
“History tells us that the best way to earn respect around the world is by using your military in a totally unpredictable and reckless manner,” he said. “Today, President Obama showed once again that he doesn’t get it.”
Snowden on NBC right now. He certainly doesn’t sound like a traitor, nor a typical high school dropout.
Having been in IT for almost two decades, I wasn’t particularly surprised to learn that the rumors I’ve heard since the early 90’s about government intervention and hosting “shadow companies” for tech startups turned out to be true.
You can bet they host ‘discust’.
:)
Just like Facebook and Myspace..they gather intelligence the easy way..let the people being watched bring the info to you.
Yep, ole Bush was shot down on a combat mission, defending a waterbowl. He saved it from the Japs for our boys. Forgot the award he was given, ummmm, Snowden is a what ?
Interesting recitation of history there DV.
Anyone who has viewed the recent (May 13 & 20) PBS FRONTLINE series, United States of Secrets, will realize how fluid, amorphous, and expansive the National Security Agency took its mission to be after President Bush signed a secret Executive Order (drafted by VP Cheney’s attorney and kept in his safe).
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/united-states-of-secrets/
And that during Obama’s first presidential campaign, he perpetuated the “green light” for massive, wholesale data collection (in the USA, using AT&T) during a campaign debate.
All without the requisite wiretaps — since THOSE apply to INDIVIDUAL instances.
And although the NSA has, to date, secured court-ordered 57,000 warrants to wiretap.
Many long-time, high-level, and loyal NSA employees were convinced that the “extra,” unauthorized wiretaps were unconstitutional. Including the NSA’s General Counsel.
Snowden realized that the only way to stop the snooping was to blow the whistle, and sometimes, to preserve democracy, one must take seemingly undemocratic — seemingly treasonous — actions.
I now support Snowden’s behavior.
Watch the program.
Spoiler alert: What was Snowden’s signal, identifying himself, to The Guardian’s reporters in the Hong Kong hotel lobby?
Did he stick his thumbs in his ears and make antlers with his fingers while blowing a raspberry?
Every time someone in the Obama administration calls Snowden names, it just makes me remember what a promise breaker Obama is. Snowden himself held off on blowing the whistle for years because he thought Obama would come in and fix things like Obama promised. Snowden only acted when it was clear that Obama had a taste for unconstitutional surveillance just like Bush & Cheney.
How invasive is the war on bull shit terrorist? Sheriff Lott has used cell tower dumps as part of his investigative procedures…all in secret, all phone calls retrieved, no idea who heard phone calls or where the files are. In Lexington, the police scanners will not pick up because Metts has his department on closed circuit. Both Metts and Lott would never admit to using Stingray technology that actually mimics a cell tower channeling all cell phone traffic to the Stingray device which can be on a desktop or in a patrol car. And you can bet they both put GPS trackers on citizens before the SCOTUS made them illegal without a court order.