Anthonyn Cordesman on Edward Snowden

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.

Yes, a great read. Just now, on the news, polls show that 2/3 of Americans see Snowden as a whistleblower and only 1/4 as a traitor. They even spoke of the difficulties the government said it would have with a jury who would see him as innocent and doing his civic duty.

When you have NSA head Comey perjure himself (a felony) before congress about the extent of surveillance, that is a bell that cannot be unrung. Nothing will happen to him and the public can see that for what it is. Add to that the fact that Snowden had released everything he had when back in Hong Kong and that it's the Guardian newspaper that is releasing the stories. Snowden has nothing more to add to the mix.

Every story the Guardian releases is vetted by the U.S government. Granted, they say all info is of the "double secret probation" variety so the Guardian carefully vets the stories before releasing them. No one has been harmed but there is a lot of shame and embarrassment to go around for everyone.

I'd like to believe that we, Americans, are mature enough to be told, informed, and advised of what is going on and can make up our own minds. I can handle it, can you?

One more thing as long as I'm here. I did a little research and it turns out that the Supreme Court has never held telephone conversations to the same standard as written correspondence, as written in our constitution. As far back as the early teens of last century, the courts have always held that our phone conversations are up for grabs when it concerns the government.
Electronic surveillance has always been given broad latitude and when looked at it with a historical context, they're not living up to the spirit of the law but they are legally skirting the boundaries of it.

All the best,
Nonoise

Interesting story .