Is Snowden a national hero? Traitor? None of the above?

What are your opinions and analysis on the continued Snowden saga?

Is this man a hero?
Traitor?
Some kind of (unknowing) tool of the .. <insert blank>?
none of the above/something totally different?

What do you make of this entire situation?

I think he is brave, at the least. But not sure it will wake up as many people as he would have liked. I think it perfectly shows the hypocrisy of the American govt (or any government for that matter), as well, however

 

A naive hero.

 

Could be a very good way to put it. A naive, (well intentioned, well meaning) "hero" - or if no one remember this in half a year due to the iphone 509348, failed hero..who knows. Just speculation..

 

he's a hero.

 

He is a hero, just as Bradley Manning is.

 

He's definitely a tool of some psychological operation that's being used to push some sort of agenda on the public mind. I mean, nothing the guy said is anything many of us already didn't know. Of course the NSA is spying on us all. The media, which is controlled, would never have allowed this guy's story to come forward unless it was deliberately intended to be put out there. I am not buying it. I don't doubt this guy is genuine in his intent to do what's right, but I think he's likely being used by someone without his knowledge. He was allowed to come forward, and it partly has to do with making an example out of him, and it allows the system to come out and basically tell us that America is no longer a free country. They want us to know the NSA is spying on us, and why would they care, because most people could not give a shit less as long as they are able to keep buying their cheap Chinese trinkets, eating McDonalds, and watching the boob tube.

 

ya bradley manning is a hero to.

 

i think that what bradley manning did was a lot more heroic than what snowden did.

rat - don't you think the word 'definitely' is a bit strong, considering you have absolutely no evidence to back up your theory?

 

I am not sure what I really think of the situation or of him.

I do feel that the privacy is an issue and that I can support him exposing, I would not think highly of anyone using that information for personal gain.

I am not sure he has or is not doing so.

 

When I figure out what he actually released I'll let you know.

I do feel as if greater leaks have occurred.

He has a really irritating voice...

 

Traitor

 

he did the right thing, knowing he'll probably get killed for doing so. i hope he doesn't.

any nation or person who would brand anyone a trator should be ashamed of themselves.

people do not exist to serve nations, nations are only excused in existing by serving people.

any nation that puts its security as a nation, ahead of the security of its citizens, should be ashamed of itself. whether that nation is syria, afghanistan, or the u.s. of america.

 

Well he is a lying blowhard. I'm pretty certain the NSA doesn't give contractors authority to tap the presidents phone. And he might have been able to get away with it and live a normal life if he didn't want to brag that he was a hero to everybody. But the documents needed to be released and they were.

 

That's nonsense Meagain. First, congress doesn't have authority to pass laws which violate the fourth appendment. It clearly violates the fourth ammendment, because they admited to metadata collection in the document. Metadata collection happens before it can be reviewed by a judge for a warrant. When the government betrays it's citizens trust and activites secret clauses in laws which are unconstitutional by action, than yes, the secret should be made public.

 

He's a dumbass. Gonna be a dead dumbass if they ever catch his dumbass!

 

Nosey spying bastards. Just cough up compensation to the rest of the World, and stop crying about getting caught.

 

I think specifically, congress aproved of prism directly (I don't think it's an acronym) which is collecting data specifically from tech firms, in which they will have a warrant issued by a judge in the case of an American citizen. What they did not nessecarily approve of is blanket fiber optic metadata collection and deep packet inspection. And that part is unconstitutional. Even if every lawyer says otherwise because it's a new technology and the supreme court rules it doesn't apply to unreasonable search and seisure. They are wrong. Remember Plessy V Ferguson? (I'm not saying you're that old btw. :biggrin

 

He's a fool, in deep over his head. Playing games that he doesn't fully understand.

He trusts the Russians now? Does he realize they would torture him to death in a New York minute, to get information out of him if they thought it was to their advantage? The Russian government has never even claimed to play "nice".