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We are witnessing a compression of the working period in which bad policy shelters in the shadows, the time frame in which unconstitutional activities can continue before they are exposed by acts of conscience. And this temporal compression has a significance beyond the immediate headlines; it permits the people of this country to learn about critical government actions, not as part of the historical record but in a way that allows direct action through voting — in other words, in a way that empowers an informed citizenry to defend the democracy that “state secrets” are nominally intended to support.
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/03...t-leaking-its-an-act-of-political-resistance/
And if I had my choice, for what he did to America's ability to gather and collate intelligence for our own defense, Snowden would be in jail for the rest of his life.
And if I had my choice he would get a medal.
That said, the more time that passes since his time in the NSA the less relevant his opinion is. NSA's technology and policies have likely moved since his departure and he isn't going to know what those changes are.
A medal for what? After all, he clearly didn't think what he did was worth going to jail for.
He thought it was worth RISKING going to jail. If your goal is to get the word out then it would be foolish to voluntarily go to jail where you would likely be silenced.
But he didn't just go to any country to avoid jail time, did he?
And if I had my choice he would get a medal.
That said, the more time that passes since his time in the NSA the less relevant his opinion is. NSA's technology and policies have likely moved since his departure and he isn't going to know what those changes are.
He thought it was worth RISKING going to jail. If your goal is to get the word out then it would be foolish to voluntarily go to jail where you would likely be silenced.
But he didn't just go to any country to avoid jail time, did he?
And if I had my choice, for what he did to America's ability to gather and collate intelligence for our own defense, Snowden would be in jail for the rest of his life.
There are only so many countries he could go to who wouldn't extradite him. So he tried to go to Cuba. I wouldn't mind living out my days on a tropical island. And from there he could travel to other South American countries if the pressure was ever lifted. But we pulled his passport enroute so he was stuck in Russia.
Nope, he was forced to go to Russia.
Which, as I stated, has a vastly worse record when it comes to surveillance and human rights
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