Ed Snowden: Leakers “should be shot in the balls,” and "cut this Social Security bullshit"

[mike_c]

160. OK....

I honestly don't know what to think about Ed Snowden personally-- I'm grateful that he revealed the perfidy of the NSA and its ilk. I'm inclined to disagree that he's a "criminal" simply because he broke some laws that we both seem to agree are unjust. After all, the people who defended Jews in Europe during WWII were likewise "criminals," as were the stations along the Underground Railroad. Laws often exist to shield the powerful from the consequences of their actions-- "national security" laws are often among the most egregious, obsessed with keeping secrets from the very people they are meant to serve. So I think that history will have to judge Snowden's criminality.

I certainly don't know him well enough to say-- or to dispute-- whether he is a "hypocrite." As sabrina1 points out up thread, many of the statements now being used to illuminate his personal shortcomings are things that we might all say in order to get a job with a major government security contractor-- I mean, they'll probably never hire me if they look at my internet presence since 2000.