Why did it take a Democratic administration for Snowden to become a dissident?

[MADem]

208. Well, as I mentioned in another post, his SF86 anniversary had arrived.

His first full clearance was gundecked by USIS. They likely never checked his educational qualifications (probably because he had an off-the-charts ASVAB score...how many dropouts are CAT I's?). The ENTNAC would have turned up any criminal activity and maybe even credit problems, and that came back clean. So what, really, was there to check on a young guy like that, save his addresses and education? Had they so done the first time around, he wouldn't have ever gotten that job at NSA in MD in the first place--he would have been ID'd as a liar.

His second one came due while he was reporting aboard to BAH. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was found out, and that would be the end of him--he would have been tossed out on his ass and it would have been a tough trick to find lucrative, six figure employment without a clearance. Those clearances are worth their weight in gold!

Information is worth something---and he's got a lot of it. It can be sold, doled out in dribs and drabs, or even held for ransom. Who knows what's happening in that regard out of sight of the curious?

It will be interesting to see if Snowden gets any of that big money coming to Greenwald as a result of Greenwald's new alliance with that Paypal guy, or if he goes under the bus...time will tell.

FWIW, my speculation is not "baseless." If someone goes into a bakery and comes out with a box, it's logical to infer that there are baked goods, not crescent wrenches, in that box. Now, it's entirely possible that the CIA hired a very youthful security guard to do sysadmin work in Switzerland for them, but how likely is it? Why not hire a lunch lady from Dam Neck? Snowden acquired experience--likely compelling, praiseworthy experience-- to qualify him for that job, and it is likely that he acquired it while working for NSA in MD.

Time will reveal all, eventually, I suspect.

All I know for certain is that, down the years, I have found that things are often not quite what they seem.