Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance

reply to post by opethPA


So if a soldier is told to directly massacre civilians then he should do so and keep quiet?

And if he refuses and whistleblows then he should be charged with disobeying orders and breaking his NDA?

Originally posted by Indigo5

Originally posted by opethPA


He is a hero that broke the law.

And our legal system affords recognition of both.

He needs to be charged and he needs to be pardoned and granted immunity from prosecution.

It seems ridiculous to me that the government grants whistle-blower protections to employees that identify theft, corruption or waste within government, but when someone out's an entire agency actively circumventing the Constituion of the United States of America...eff that guy??

edit on 10-6-2013 by Indigo5 because: (no reason given)

Good response, thanks for posting it.
Finding him guilty of breaking the law and then granting immunity would make sense to me.

Originally posted by Bilk22
His demeanor in that video is just too cool for a guy in his position. I know. I went through something similar in my life, but not with the dire consequences he's facing. Now if he was operating with the understanding that he's protected by some entity or agency, well then that could explain things a bit more.

Cool or resigned to his fate? What struck me the most about Snowden's demeanor and expression were his eyes. Pain, resignation, acceptance of fate. He knows he's virtually a dead man walking and he's resolved himself utterly with that potential fate. That's what struck me in his demeanor. He also looks very tired and very pale so toss fatigue in there.

Originally posted by opethPA
Good response, thanks for posting it.
Finding him guilty of breaking the law and then granting immunity would make sense to me.

Thanks, as I stated earlier, charging him, finding him guilty, and pardoning him leaves the law consistent and the channel wide open to pursue damaging leaks driven by animosity, malice or for financial gain.

Anyone else out there feel like a conspiracy theory hipster?

Also why did he fly to Hong Kong? Even on his interview he states there is a CIA office down the road? Can anyone verify this? Does the CIA have a field office in Hong Kong? If so that would really surprise me.
Because if thats accurate it makes no sense at all for a whistle blower to go to Hong Kong..especially as i read Hong Kong is still supposedly semi autonomous from China..and that it has a history of cooperation with the states.
Again it doesn't smell right to me. Why not fly to main land China instead...or Cuba...or Venezuela..Instead he fly's to Hong Kong where he even states he might get renditioned??? So why fly there???
I mean if this guy is supposed to be legit..then he must have done his research on what countries/provinces cooperate with the states...it just doesn't add up does it.

reply to post by Maluhia

Originally posted by xavi1000

Originally posted by Bilk22
How did he get such high clearance at a young age and with no higher education degree? Not recounting all of the career moves he had, but they all see to be very disconnected.

Everything else in your post is good except this quote , i personally know two sharp smart IT guys who dont have higher education degree.

I don't disagree. However this is certainly the exception and not the rule and happens when human resources are spread thin. It also happens when someone has remained in one place and earned that trust or they have connections. He hopped around, but we don't know about connections. However I believe where I was heading with my post is what happened.

Why now? Why did he do this now as opposed to some other time? I don't know that answer, but we know timing is everything. So this timing was important to some entity. If we look at what the DSH insider said recently, it starts to make sense - the timing that is. Does this somehow put a kink in the works? This is much deeper than it appears on the surface. It isn't just some rogue but honorable kid coming forward on his own. It's much more than that. Not taking away from what he did. I'm just saying I think he was either prepped for this or approached to do this. Now who? I can only come up with the DoD.

The following statement from Obama doesn't exactly make me feel warm, fuzzy and safe!

The president acknowledged the U.S. government is collecting reams of phone records, including phone numbers and the duration of calls, but said this does not include listening to calls or gathering the names of callers.

"You can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience,” he said. “We're going to have to make some choices as a society."

Read more: www.foxnews.com...

So let me get this straight, they are gathering the PHONE NUMBERS, and the DURATION of the calls yet has the nerve to say they are not listening in or gathering names? Well then, why do it?
Errrrrrr... do you think he could possibly be lying?
On 2nd thought, nah, he is the prez he wouldn't lie to the American Public!

Originally posted by wulff
The following statement from Obama doesn't exactly make me feel warm, fuzzy and safe!

The president acknowledged the U.S. government is collecting reams of phone records, including phone numbers and the duration of calls, but said this does not include listening to calls or gathering the names of callers.

"You can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience,” he said. “We're going to have to make some choices as a society."

Read more: www.foxnews.com...

So let me get this straight, they are gathering the PHONE NUMBERS, and the DURATION of the calls yet has the nerve to say they are not listening in or gathering names? Well then, why do it?
Errrrrrr... do you think he could possibly be lying?
On 2nd thought, nah, he is the prez he wouldn't lie to the American Public!

Humans don't listen to the calls. But something else is.

reply to post by wulff


You should be familiar with O's double-speak by now...

If he says they are not collecting the names and information, you know they are definitely collecting the names and information.

A Brave Hero.
any one know how I can send him money?

Why now? Why did he do this now as opposed to some other time? I don't know that answer, but we know timing is everything. So this timing was important to some entity. If we look at what the DSH insider said recently, it starts to make sense - the timing that is. Does this somehow put a kink in the works? This is much deeper than it appears on the surface. It isn't just some rogue but honorable kid coming forward on his own. It's much more than that. Not taking away from what he did. I'm just saying I think he was either prepped for this or approached to do this. Now who? I can only come up with the DoD.

Id like to believe that there are elements within the machinery that are against the police state BS, but if there are they seem to be in the minority and if they need to use pawns and leaks to make "dents" then its a pretty dire state of affairs. Its quite clear the ones with real power have almost complete control over the whole game, and if there is a supposed opposition within the government or power structure, its minimal if they can only make progress through leaks such as this...as we see this leak has done no real damage..I mean have there been calls in congress for hearings and urgent impeachments...NO..Have there even been calls for parliament in the UK to stop this spying on British citizens...and you can bet its all over Europe too...NO No NO, everyone's quite. business as usual, this "leak" is probably staged and all part of the agenda.

What if he's really not an American?

Originally posted by opethPA
Again , as I have said all along I believe he is a hero that broke the law. people can disagree with that all they want, they can tell me I am clinging to the Govt , they can whip themselves up and disperse mob justice on the DoD and it doesn't change either of the two things I said about Snowden.

I agree. I support him and what he's done 100%, but there is no doubt that he has broken the law, and he knows it. We could debate for days about whether those laws are morally right, or whether they are based in criminal government actions, but there are laws in place nevertheless.

What I don't understand is why no one is ripping Rand Paul apart. We are told that all of congress knew of these programs yet Paul is screaming about it AFTER it is disclosed. Seems like he is covering his butt and is just as shady. Rand Paul could care less about you or me. If you don't believe me, look how he voted on GMO labeling recently. He's a politician, that is all.

reply to post by Bilk22


Snowden is 29 years old. In the 90's, it really wasn't uncommon for teenaged boys with a penchant for computers to delve into coding for their own various reasons (hacker and crackers). I personally knew about 8 young men that, in the 90's, taught themselves coding and were quite good at what they did. My ex was recruited in his first year of college in the 90's to work for one of the first ISPs in Phoenix as a telnet administrator. He was purely self taught. His next job was working for Winstar Communications in the same capacity, which later developed into systems/network administration and internet security. He's just a few years older than Snowden and that's a pretty typical thing that was going on in terms of IT development in the 90's and early 00's. Only one of them that I'm still in contact with obtained a degree in higher education (masters from CMU). I lost track of a couple but the others did not and many of them still have had reasonably successful careers in IT. IT was one of those weird areas where a degree helps but isn't necessary. 10 years ago, you could almost say it was the norm in the industry and Snowden is certainly in that age group for that to have occurred. Even today, IT isn't so much about a degree but what you can do and have done. Snowden could've been any one of those boys that I once knew.

Why now? How many people out there are distressed by how things are going? While it's just as likely that Snowden could've been a deliberate leak, it's also equally likely that the current political climate made him feel like a. it was necessary and b. that it might be heard and acted upon. Diploma or no diploma, he's not stupid.

Originally posted by TheBlackHat

Why now? Why did he do this now as opposed to some other time? I don't know that answer, but we know timing is everything. So this timing was important to some entity. If we look at what the DSH insider said recently, it starts to make sense - the timing that is. Does this somehow put a kink in the works? This is much deeper than it appears on the surface. It isn't just some rogue but honorable kid coming forward on his own. It's much more than that. Not taking away from what he did. I'm just saying I think he was either prepped for this or approached to do this. Now who? I can only come up with the DoD.

Id like to believe that there are elements within the machinery that are against the police state BS, but if there are they seem to be in the minority and if they need to use pawns and leaks to make "dents" then its a pretty dire state of affairs. Its quite clear the ones with real power have almost complete control over the whole game, and if there is a supposed opposition within the government or power structure, its minimal if they can only make progress through leaks such as this...as we see this leak has done no real damage..I mean have there been calls in congress for hearings and urgent impeachments...NO..Have there even been calls for parliament in the UK to stop this spying on British citizens...and you can bet its all over Europe too...NO No NO, everyone's quite. business as usual, this "leak" is probably staged and all part of the agenda.

edit on 10-6-2013 by TheBlackHat because: (no reason given)

First this happened over a weekend. Second, it's all new and there are still a lot of feathers in the air. Yes this was more than a dent and it put the administration in damage control mode even more than they were before with the other scandals. The spin is just about to begin. Also consider, all parties are waiting on the next move from the other. In the meantime, the people are keeping this ball in the air.

This is huge and not the "dent" you claim it to be. This is for all the marbles. I believe the DoD doesn't want to go down the same road the admin wants to and they are prepared to fight on the clandestine level for now, to keep the republic intact. They can't do it any other way right now until someone breaches a constitutional law and then Congress doesn't act. This is an internal war. I think that's clear.

reply to post by buddha


I'm sure someone will be setting up a fund soon.

Edward Snowden for President?

We need more Eddy Snowdens and fewer Diane Feinsteins.