'I'm neither a traitor nor a hero... I'm an American': NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden..

Daily Mail UK ^ | June 12, 2013 | Lydia Warren

[schm0e]

thank you kindly.

[hoosiermama]

Link to transcript of Snowden first interview.

Don’t know if I’ve seen it in one piece before

[familyop]

"Snowden Interview"

Thanks. There's the answer to his so-called lack of education. He was a systems administrator. Very few university graduates have the necessary knowledge and practice to do proper work installing, securing and otherwise managing secure servers and networks, and we all know why. For most, it's a kind of work that requires years of self-study and practice. Most capable sys admins are unemployed or underemployed, while most of them are more intelligent and diligent by far than most other so-called professionals.

[no-to-illegals]

a song for you ... I Hope You Dance ... and not at the end of a rope ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=RV-Z1YwaOiw

[schm0e]

...and now Rush is saying that Snowden’s been shown to be lying or misrepresenting some things, so I just don’t know...

[Roccus]

I don’t trust the government with Obama.

I haven't trusted the government since I left the service in late '64.

[JoeProBono]

[Christie at the beach]

It is hard to trust them.

They are becoming blatant abusive now.

[Eepsy]

If it’s over the whole salary discrepancy, that’s a pile of codswallop. In consulting, just as in finance, the fixed salary is a trifle- it’s all about the bonuses. Making anywhere from 50% to 100%+ over your fixed in bonus is routine, particularly at a place like BA.

[Joe Brower]

I've never read a spy novel in my life.

I have, however, done work with some of these agencies involved. If you don't think they would not remove a guy like this if able, then you are the one who is reading too many 'happy ending' stories.

This won't be one of them.

[Joe Brower]

"So if he thinks he is innocent why is he on the run?"

Are you serious? So he doesn't end up in an 'unfortunate' fatal car crash, that's why.

You have no idea of the kind of people being dealt with here.

[Joe Brower]

"Betray his country"? Seems like the agencies he worked for already had that position filled.

I'm not especially rooting for this guy -- I don't see any "good guys" on either side of this equation. But to put such trust in agencies like the NSA, when their mission has been subverted and who are actively working against the American people, is unwise at best.

[Joe Brower]

I'm sure the ChiComs are getting a real belly-laugh out of all this.

From a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: "It is certainly instructive that the liberal-libertarian alliance opposing data-mining has adopted as a hero a man who flees to a Special Administrative Region of China to portray America as a totalitarian dystopia."

[InterceptPoint]

I have, however, done work with some of these agencies involved. If you don't think they would not remove a guy like this if able, then you are the one who is reading too many 'happy ending' stories.

No disrespect intended. But in this case the resulting very, very bad PR for Obama makes your scenario highly unlikely. Not going to happen IMHO.

[Joe Brower]

Looks like Obama is already getting a lot of very bad PR. And ultimately it runs off him like rain, just like every other malfeasance he's been involved in, just like his hidden past.

Snowden will simply vanish and no one will ever know what happened.

And in very little time at all, the whole thing will be whitewashed and forgotten, just like almost every other scandal in Washington DC.

[CharlesWayneCT]

We have to put our trust in the NSA, because that is the mission it has. If we can’t, we have to FIX the NSA, not spill secrets to our enemies.

I didn’t particularly like the Patriot Act, and I think the type of data mining we are learning about is way too easy to be abused relative to the gains we might get.

But we have no idea what gains we get, because it is all rightly classified. We have to have people we trust to review the actual workings of the programs, and we don’t have a trustworthy government.

But that is our fault (Americans), because we elected untrustworthy people. We can fix that, if we as Americans actually care enough.

I’ve found it problematic that having a court review is supposed to “make it all better”. Frankly, I don’t see how trusting ONE JUDGE to make this decision makes it LESS likely for abuse. I’d rather have the oversight of the relevant committees in congress. Yes, they might not be trustworthy either, but they are 8 elected representatives of the people, who supposedly are trusted by their peers who were also elected.

Once you lose trust, nothing works. We have to trust the President not to launch nuclear weapons. We have to trust our military leaders not to turn their weapons on us. We have to trust cops not to abuse their power.

As our institutions are taken over by untrustworthy and even criminal elements, society breaks down.

This is a major reason that we need power devolved to the lowest possible level, as opposed to our modern push to put all power at the top. YOu can have many corrupt local officials, but they only impact the locals, and the locals have the best chance at fixing the problem through political means, if they want.

I don’t want anybody to think they have the right to take classified data and leak it to the press. If he had leaked it to a congressman, I’d feel differently. Once we support ONE person giving up secrets, we’ll have everybody giving up secrets, and most of them we will not support.

[Joe Brower]

I agree with much you say, most particularly this: "Once you lose trust, nothing works." Yes, exactly. Which is close to the point we are at currently.

[Sam Gamgee]

Really? Are they really going to kill the guy that is all over the news?

[Joe Brower]

See my post #75.

You quite apparently have no idea how these people operate.

It's not my job to teach you, but there you go.

[InterceptPoint]

Snowden will simply vanish and no one will ever know what happened
++++++++++
I’ll give you credit, you stick to your guns. Time will tell.