Anthonyn Cordesman on Edward Snowden

Biting down hard on that tongue huh Nonoise :)

I have mixed feelings about a political thread like this being on Audiogon, but I have to admit I’ve enjoyed reading every one of the comments posted here. I also enjoyed reading the NY Times editorial that was published soon after the Snowden story broke: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/surveillance-a-threat-to-democracy.html?ref=opinion

Mail from a former US Senator:

"Mr. Snowden,

Provided you have not leaked information that would put in harms way any intelligence agent, I believe you have done the right thing in exposing what I regard as massive violation of the United States Constitution.

Having served in the United States Senate for twelve years as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee, I think I have a good grounding to reach my conclusion.

I wish you well in your efforts to secure asylum and encourage you to persevere.

Kindly acknowledge this message, so that I will know it reached you.

Regards, Gordon J. Humphrey Former United States Senator New Hampshire"

Good read on that NYTs article and nice to hear what a former Senator from normal times would say and think.

2/3 of Americans polled fell that Snowden is a whistleblower and only 1/4 feel he's a traitor. The government feels that any potential juror will see him as innocent and that he just did his civic duty.

Snowden has already given everything he had when in Hong Kong and it's The Guardian that's releasing the stories. Stories that are vetted with the U.S. government before release. Granted, everything is classified in the "double secret probation" category so the Guardian is carefully screening all releases and so far all that's happened is that there's a lot of shamed and embarrassed people out there.

Comey testified for the NSA and perjured himself (a felony) before congress and nothing is going to happen to him. Hmmm.

If one looks back through history, since the advent of the phone, the Supreme Court has always sided with the government and allowed wiretapping for whatever reason they could come up with. This is nothing new.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/16/1214827/-Why-the-Fourth-Amendment-Sucks-And-Doesn-t-Prevent-Mass-Electronic-Surveillance-A-Factual-History

All the best,
Nonoise

My apologies, in advance, for what may end up a double posting as it's being "moderator approved". How utterly contemporary.