Why is no one talking about Edward Snowden?

[LazarX]

Irontruth wrote:

No, it's hugely important that the system can self correct. That's actually a cornerstone of our legal system and is of massive importance. That's a major difference between the US and China. In the US, an appeal means there is actually a chance to have a ruling overturned through a legitimate process.

The problem is that the methods of self correction haven't always been there. They weren't there in the days of the Robber Barons of old, nor were they there in the immediate post-colonial period. They grew strong during the early and latter parts of the 20th century but have been under a good deal of erosion since then. Daniel Ellsberg didn't have to flee the country, although Nixon did his best to pull underhanded shenannigans on him to the point of sending his Plumbers out to riffle his psychiatrist. Whereas not that long ago, we were treated to the sadly funny spectacle of an American Secretary of State making a promise to the Russians(!) of all people that we weren't going to execute or torture Snowden if they'd kindly let us get our mitts on him.

Citizens United took a big hammer to self-correction when the Supremes eliminated the bulk of the curbs on campaign financing. It looks like they're ready to finish the job soon.

[Kahn Zordlon]

Sale of Orwell's 1984 spike after Snowden leak. If I was ninja'd I don't think it was in the last 3 pages I read today.

[Comrade Anklebiter]

Here's a fun comic I discovered only within the last year or so.

I think it was after the NSA case, maybe the AP thingie, but I remember thinking: George ain't out of the running yet!

[lucky7]

...I'm scared...

[Hama]

TOO LATE

[Kahn Zordlon]

One of the things I noticed is when the leaks first started, the main stream media was talking about ES. They talked about him and his girlfriend. I remember one talking head comparing his looks to a weasel. What he revealed was far more important than ES as a person.

[Thiago Cardozo]

Report by the CPJ on Obama's administration and its attitude towards the press

[Thiago Cardozo]

One thing I find amusing regarding the Snowden leaks is how some people say that "He broke the LAW" but forget that Clapper was caught lying to Congress.

[BigNorseWolf]

Thiago Cardozo wrote:

One thing I find amusing regarding the Snowden leaks is how some people say that "He broke the LAW" but forget that Clapper was caught lying to Congress.

No, what I find ironic is that the argument is really

"He broke the law thats against the first ammendment by telling you we were breaking the law against the fourth so that makes him the bad guy"

[Thiago Cardozo]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Thiago Cardozo wrote:

One thing I find amusing regarding the Snowden leaks is how some people say that "He broke the LAW" but forget that Clapper was caught lying to Congress.

No, what I find ironic is that the argument is really

"He broke the law thats against the first ammendment by telling you we were breaking the law against the fourth so that makes him the bad guy"

Yeah, that too. The complete lack of making any sense appears to be a theme in the attempted defenses of the program/criticisms of Snowden.

[LazarX]

Thiago Cardozo wrote:

Yeah, that too. The complete lack of making any sense appears to be a theme in the attempted defenses of the program/criticisms of Snowden.

There's plenty of sense here. Snowden is guilty of the same cardinal sin that Daniel Ellsberg was in that he's exposed the government's dirty laundry with The Pentagaon Papers. (the major diffrence is that thanks to technology and the exigencies of outsourcing everything including the kitchen sink, Snowden's disclosures are magnitudes larger in size.)

[Stebehil]

Well, according to the "parlamentarischer Kontrollausschuss", a committee within the Bundestag (German parliament), who are supposed to control the secret services in Germany, they had access to "declassified" documents from the NSA which were gained by the secretary responsible for the services, Ronald Pofalla. He stated that the affair "had ended", which he was ridiculed for, by posting his photo next to statements what else he "had ended" - similar to "Kim Jong-il looking at things".
That how the declassified documents looked like:
https://twitter.com/ThomasOppermann/status/374966102788292609
Thomas Oppermann is the social-democratic head of that committee.

[Thiago Cardozo]

The government's calculated response of attacking Snowden and defending its spying program is, of course, predictable. But it is interesting to watch these guys jumping through hoops trying to make yellow look blue, while being systematically caught red-handed.

[A highly regarded expert]

Chris Hedges says stuff.

[Comrade Anklebiter]

Hmm, let's see if there's any new documents over at The Intercept.

Hmmm, "How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations"? "Inside the Mind of James Clapper"? [shudders], "Judge Tosses Muslim Spying Suit Against NYPD, Says Any Damage Was Caused by Reporters Who Exposed It", oh I saw that, American jurisprudence at its most brilliant!, "New Details of Attack on Yemeni Wedding Prompt More Demands Obama Explain Drone Policy".

Ah, that Obama.

[Comrade Anklebiter]

Peeping Webcam? With NSA Help, British Spy Agency Intercepted Millions of Yahoo Chat Images

[Quandary]

Thought I would post this here as it's related to government whistleblowers:
Silencing Whistleblowers Obama-Style: Supreme Court Edition?
By Peter Van Buren
(the actual article begins 20% down the page at "Silencing Whistleblowers Obama-Style: Supreme Court Edition? By Peter Van Buren" in bold)