The vast majority of DU supports Snowden's and Greenwald's actions

[MADem]

166. I think that what Snowden did--when he had options--was reprehensible.

He could have gone to any one of a dozen members of the Senate Intel Committee, including his pal Rand Paul, and asked for closed session. Now what's happening is GG is fencing the goods stolen by ES, and that sucks. He's telegraphing capabilities as well as sources and methods, and I can't help but notice that he has nothing to say about the Russians. Surely he scooped up some of their stuff too.

We know Assange was sitting on a bunch of Russian intel he was going to release, and then--suddenly--he changed his mind.

And who helped Snowden into Russia? Why, Assange's old "main squeeze," his ex-lover. Gee, nothing odd about that *cough*horseshit*!

If he could really do all the hacking he claimed, all he'd have to do is ask Rand Paul "So, did the blow up doll you ordered from ToyzRFun arrive, and I see you've got a hair club for men appointment at two thirty, and did you read that classified material that was sent to you on the secure server about Dubai?" to make it clear he could hack his shit (if he could).

Now he's claiming he was a spy. Not a contractor, with a degree of separation, but a spy, an employee who signed very specific agreements in terms of his conduct and disclosure that last for frigging ever, even if he subsequently left "spy" service. If he was an actual spy, the idiot is basically telling us that he is, indeed, one of those traitors.

Frankly, I think if he was a "spy" that was a title given him by Putin's crew.

I think his hubris still has center stage, but I think he sees his future in Russia and it sucks. I don't think he sleeps well at night, I think he wishes he'd never been such an idiot and done what he did. Thing is, though, he's such a blowhard he can't just speak frankly. He's got to be The Smartest Guy In The Room. And he's not--he's over his head, and he fucked up.

The idea behind the meta data isn't to prevent mass shootings--unless you want the US police to be able to access that pile of material (and they can't). The purpose is to keep nutcases from abroad from bombing us. Of course, now that Snowden has given them the playbook, you can be sure they'll be more cautious in their communication methodologies. And a warrant doesn't do any good unless you have a haystack to look in. You can't spot connections that go back in time unless you have a record of them.

I don't object to Snowden taking issue with how things are done. What I do take issue with is his going to our adversaries and giving them the keys to the treasure house in a fit of pique. There was absolutely NO need to do what he did, and the only reason I can suss out is that he thinks he's smarter than the average bear. In actual fact, he's Boo Boo to Putin's Yogi, and he's stuck in Russia's version of Jellystone Park for the foreseeable future, unless he's willing to suck it up and do time in Club Fed.

If I were Brian Williams (whose bags "went missing" enroute to Moscow, and were only delivered a few hours before that interview started) I'd have dumped the damn bag and all of its contents. Every single thing. Those Russians aren't amateurs either.