Posted on 09/09/2020 9:00:22 AM PDT by RandFan
This controversial move could win over libertarian-minded voters.
Until recently, I planned to vote for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen for president in November.
But I have had second thoughts after President Donald Trump recently put something on the table that virtually no other president would: Pardoning Edward Snowden.
As diverse voices from the ACLU to Republican Senator Rand Paul have noted, Snowden is a whistleblower hero who made our republican democracy better by warning Americans in 2013 that their government was spying on them en masse at a time when government officials insisted they were not. Not only was Snowden right, but this reckless and warrantless spying on citizens even appears to have included illegal government surveillance of Donald Trump. In fact, after seven years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has now concluded that the surveillance program which Snowden revealed was in fact unlawful.
Pardoning Snowden would be a game changer for me, and likely would be for many more libertarians. Two libertarian-leaning Republican congressmen have already encouraged Trump to issue Snowden a pardon.
Unless a similar liberty-minded Republican or a principled progressive in the mold of Democratic Reps. Tulsi Gabbard or Ro Khanna, or Democratic civil libertarian Senator Ron Wyden, is ever elected president, it is hard to imagine another president in my lifetime even considering allowing 37-year-old Snowden to return to the United States from Russia, where he remains in exile.
(Excerpt) Read more at theamericanconservative.com ...
Could be a smart move to do this before November?
Why would a person in any sensible mindset NOT vote for Trump?
Trump is the best President since Reagan, but he will only vote for him if he pardons Snowden?
Really, he should be voting for him anyway.
I can’t answer for him.. libertarians are a complicated demographic
Millions voted for Gov. Gary Johnson in 2016...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Johnson_2016_presidential_campaign
The challenges to his administration Trump faces pales in comparison to what Reagan did in the 80s, not to mention what he has accomplished despite those challenges. In that sense I think he has edged ahead of Reagan.
Why would a person in any sensible mindset NOT vote for Trump?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because they don’t have a sensible mindset?
I don’t think that the President would lose a single vote by doing so. Would it gain him many? Probably not. Would it dominate a news cycle? Certainly.
Statement: Until recently, I planned to vote for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen for president in November
Reality: Until recently, I planned to vote for Quid Pro Joementia Biden the Groping Pedo for president in November
And if he doesn’t it’s Biden for win?
So...if he does not pardon Snowden...
You’ll vote for Biden.
Got it.
Pardon Snowden?
Manning had his/her sentenced commuted.
Assange is currently pending extradition from the UK to the US for espionage/conspiracy charges.
Why is Assange still being charged. Is this another situation like that of General Flynn where he is perceived as problem for the Democrats but not for Trump - thus he has “the book” thrown at him for marginal charges?
Ppl like Snowden need to be encouraged to reveal criminal acts of high-level ppl, while bitches like Chelsy the queer need to be imprisoned!
This is an “only Nixon could go to China” situation. It doesn’t cost President Trump anything to pardon Snowden. He’s the only one who could do it without any political cost. There’s some potential upside energizing more libertarian-minded folks who might otherwise stay home or vote third party.
On balance, with some potential upside and no real downside politically, that could make sense. I’m not much for people stealing classified data and leaking it, but I’m also not much for massive surveillance states, and I also have to admit that people who’ve followed the approved whistle-blower process have had their lives ruined for doing so, and usually without any change to happening as a result for whatever thing they were blowing the whistle about.
It’s a difficult quandary for how you effectively discourage people from disclosing valuable secrets while also ensuring that unconstitutional activities that threaten American liberty are exposed and stopped.
I will vote for Trump regardless.
Ends up Snowden was right. Govt was doing illegal spying on Americans.
Clapper lied to Congress under oath. Should be in Prison.
Didn’t Snowden’s release of info expose some US spies?
It would absolutely be a smart move. Trump needs to draw an even clearer line between himself and the deep-state
He can say something like: “We vilified Edward Snowden, but then in 2016, the nation and I personally experienced an all-powerful, rogue deep state, in the worst criminal conspiracy ever in our Federal Government’s history.”
I don’t believe so.
He exposed the “dragnet” program that Clapper said didn’t exist and Obama wiretapping Merkel among other things...
It was a while ago now...7 years!
Second that.
Half of Congress has done what he did, just not to that extent. Only he did it because he actually had a moral objection to what is/was going on and wasn’t acting in pure self interest like the other leakers that oh by the way will never get charged with anything, to include the jerk that was going after him for years and shot his mouth off about how wrong and bad Snowden is: James Comey.
Snowden was wrong in what he did. But he already paid his price. While others like Bradley Manning (who actually stole the material for Assange) were given politically motivated pardons and had tax payer paid sex changes, signing big deals for his story, Snowden is still being chased.
The truth rests in consistency, and we’re not very consistent.
Snowden committed a single instance of a crime (possible many - but I mean - discreet, fixed), which could have caused individual national security problems.
But in doing so he exposed and hence possibly helped cure a categorical cancer that is easily capable of and currently contributing towards causing the death of this country.
Some punishment, considered served or not, is in order, but on balance, I think you pardon him.
That said, it's true that any libertarian who would ONLY vote for Trump based on a pardon is a narrow thinking ideological fool, but this is typical of those who say 'I AM A LIBERTARIAN!' as a virtue signal and as an expression of humans' love for purism, and we'll welcome the votes for the same reason we say they should vote for Trump whatever he does. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
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