I was never crazy about Greenwald, and don't care for Snowden. But some of you make me a fanboy

[karynnj]

185. Don't you think that Snowden/Greenwald could have raised the issue without

releasing all the information they did?

Consider this possibility. Greenwald was already a prominent journalist. What if Snowden taking a new job, just to get more classified documents on various subjects, he worked with Snowden to produce a sensational (in the good meaning of the word) piece.

I could imagine it having the form of introducing Snowden as a person hired for his tech genius, who gradually became concerned with what he was doing and once he became convinced they were wrong, he quit a very rewarding job - likely in both a tech. professional sense and financially because he thought it was wrong.

Then the article could go into what he thought wrong. Without releasing ANY classified details, he could have highlighted provisions hidden in the legislation. Using the excerpt to define what was done and adding his concern of how each chosen excerpt had the potential to morph into things that were, in his opinion, contrary to the values of the US as he saw it. (In fact, he could have even quoted various Democratic Senators from floor statements in 2006/2007/2008 - including the current President and Secretary of State.)

This would have kept Snowden on the right side of the law and would have defined him in a very positive way as a man of values, who was willing to give up what was a very good life - intellectually and financially. It also could have been the catalyst to raise the very issues that people here have said needed to be raised. With no broken laws and the high profile he would have, Snowden would likely be in high demand - whether we speak of speaking before Senate committees (which on at least one high profile issue was very well used by a young vet/statesman) or various talk shows, cable shows and serious media articles.

Had he done this I would be among those impressed by him - even as it made the Obama administration and the people like Senator Leahy scramble to answer the questions and move to rewrite the law - as they have done in the wake of Snowden.

Note that this would release NONE of the various documents relating to the international spying of the US or other countries. This would have minimized the impact on Obama's/Kerry's ability to use diplomacy to solve problems. Unlike Bush, it is clear that Obama really would prefer to use diplomacy first - and the military only as a last resort. I know I have been somewhat inarticulate in making the case, but my gut feeling is that the timing of the releases of embarrassing international documents close to when Obama or Kerry had diplomatic missions with countries involved in the near future is no coincidental. I think at least some of the "trusted" journalists do not want the Obama administration to succeed.

The fact that all those documents come from the treasure trove stolen from the job that he took JUST to gain access to them to steal them -- possibly after he was already working for journalists changes the story for me. That is why I really see him more as someone very capable in his field, but rather naive and vulnerable to people who used him - with little care of where he ends up.

The saddest thing about Snowden that I heard in the interview is that he can't speak Russian and he spends his time binge watching TV series. In a year immersed in another country, I would have guessed he might be pretty proficient. That he is not, shows he had no desire to interact at all - not all that surprising as he sounds like he was pretty alienated since he dropped out of school. It is clear he wants to come back - but he has made himself incredibly vulnerable because he no longer controls anything. He has nothing to trade to get a plea bargain. Even if he wanted to promise that no more documents will ever be put out, he can't deliver that.