If the US intelligence community targeted Americans MORE than non-Americans, does it even MATTER if Snowden was working for the Russians or Chinese...?

I’m not sure it does.

It’s an interesting intellectual exercise to ponder it, but...to what end, exactly..?

The principle of it...?

Let’s say you were a loyal trooper and over the course of a full career you aided in dismantling EVERY aspect of America that made her exceptional and a good, free place to live:

Would your loyalty have proven to be a good thing?

“I will take credit for being one of the first to point out the fact that Snowden’s whistleblower narrative was a total crock because after the initial flurry his leaks had little to do with NSA surveillance of individuals, but instead revealed information that was highly damaging to US national security and foreign policy. “

I call BS on this. Even if it were true, the author is just making this up...

A good point when you consider how the leftists have given so much technology over to the reds in Russia and China and the Islamic terrorist movements in the middle east. I believe that Snowden is much less dangerous than all the democrats and rinos in DC who have destroyed America.

[I call BS on this. Even if it were true, the author is just making this up...]

I suspect this also, even the fact that he refers to himself or herself as professor raises suspision as all self respecting conservative knows how that the left love titles and lying.

Let’s discuss Snowden instead of the turn key police state being built by our politicians. Remember Binney and his warnings a decade ago. Was he a turncoat too? Perhaps he was a Martian or simply a bad man.... Snowden proved him correct in the end, which is why we must attack Snowden to ignore the federal behemoth nobody has the balls to take down.

Perhaps something went on between Russia and China regarding Snowden that involves stuff Golitsyn wrote about.

If Snowden had done his thing when Bush was in the White House, are there any conservatives who would not have (accurately) marked him out as a traitor? Obama Derangement Syndrome has caused a lot of conservatives to make common cause with America’s enemies.

Obama Administration agent

If Snowden had done his thing when Bush was in the White House, are there any conservatives who would not have (accurately) marked him out as a traitor?

Just about every nation on the planet was appalled by what Snowden showed the world that the US government was doing. Just about every nation. He was a traitor to a corrupt government and a hero to the world. And it would not matter at this point if Santa Claus was the President.

Just about every nation on the planet was appalled by what Snowden showed the world that the US government was doing. Just about every nation.

Right. They all adhere to the principle that "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail". And there is a Santa Claus. Their crocodile tears are amusing to behold, but I'll believe them when they dismantle their intelligence agencies.

Obama Derangement Syndrome has caused a lot of conservatives to make common cause with America’s enemies.

Neocon Derangement Syndrome has caused a lot of "conservatives" to think America has "ENEMIES".

Bill Kristol (among others)is the traitor. Snowden is a great American hero.

> . The only question in my mind was when he was when he became a Russian asset.<

What?

Stand back for a minute and look over the ‘vast’ level of maturity in Snowden. He never finishes high school...GED guy. He goes off to the Army, but is let go at some point because of physical issues, so we are told. He retreats to his hometown area around Fort Meade, where he becomes a security guard...mostly because he has a security clearance left over from the Army episode he never finished.

Snowden signs up for some computer classes locally, and eventually is picked up (no degree, just a couple of classes) as a IT-expert for a company doing gov’t work. Then, the CIA steps in and hires him to do an assignment in Switzerland. No one ever explained this giant step....a high school drop-out with a GED certificate...no real demonstrated history....hired by the CIA.

So he goes off and discovers the whole job is about getting into the banking structure of the Swiss banks. Manipulation, breaking into personal email accounts, blackmail, etc. Based on comments....Edward was severely disenchanted with this mission, and felt morally corrupted by it. Everything would point to Snowden likely corrupted at this point as being anti-US gov’t.

My personal guess is that Ed is a gamer, and some Russian KGB happened upon this whole circumstance in Switzerland and wandered just how far they could drag Ed along and get him into the right positions. So a gaming ‘friend’ was established, and kept working on Ed to follow a certain trail.

Ed comes back to the US....gets himself into positions with access, and the rest is history.

On the maturity scale....Ed is thirteen years old. I don’t see any woman desiring a relationship with the guy. From a hiring prospect....why would you ever hire the guy? He’d come in on day one to get the right passwords and get deep into your company’s secrets. He is mostly standing there to be adored by the Germans, and one day wake up to realize that he’s led mostly a loser life.

None of the Above???

IMO, he is an “Anonymous” admirer, who saw himself as the good-guy in some Hollywood movie, like “Enemy of the State”, or something.

Our country has held ourselves up to be better than the rest of the world. We’ve suffered a major loss of face.

If the CIA and FBI spent more time on our enemies and the real threats, they wouldn’t bother spying on us.

Re: “On the maturity scale....Ed is thirteen years old. I don’t see any woman desiring a relationship with the guy.”

Actually, he had a girlfriend in Hawaii who is really cute in some of her pictures, but not so cute in others.

According to her friends, she fell really hard for Snowden and was devastated when he bolted to Hong Kong and then Russia.

Photos:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341691/Edward-Snowdens-girlfriend-Lindsay-Mills-feels-betrayed-world-caved-in.html

” the CIA steps in and hires him to do an assignment in Switzerland. No one ever explained this giant step....a high school drop-out with a GED certificate...no real demonstrated history....hired by the CIA.”

Maybe they hired him because he looked unobtrusive and would blend in well with the rest of the people he would be working around. He’s certainly a drifter through life, I’ll say that.

The alienated type who apparently are ripe for manipulation.

Looks like government apologists and prevaricators are all over this thread.

>> If the CIA and FBI spent more time on our enemies and the real threats, they wouldn’t bother spying on us.

What makes you believe the agencies are not focusing their time and resources in a way that best serves the Country’s security and liberties?

FWIW, I haven’t lost faith in the NSA nor the CIA despite the data gathering concerns — not something I’m dismissing as irrelevant. And I don’t consider either tools of the current regime.