Is Edward Snowden A Traitor?

[Clyde]

They may not be lying he may just don't of told them everything. He did work for a spy agency.

 

Have we seen any evidence that he is trying to benefit from this? All we've seen is opinions based on assumptions.

[Clyde]

I just think there would of been some small gov't congressman who would of used it to score points against Obama. It may have been all political, but if you were taking this chance that would of been the best route in my eyes.

 

So you don't think any of the "small govt" or "anti-Obama" members of Congress wouldn't have done just that in the Yemeni case?

[LIPTON BASH]

So you don't think any of the "small govt" or "anti-Obama" members of Congress wouldn't have done just that in the Yemeni case?

 

I don't know if I'd call them apples to apples comparison. Think we are getting off base here. I believe NSA was in the wrong and I don't like the program. If someone feels the government is outline and they have the courage to show criminal behavior taking place I applaud that. Something just doesn't sit well with me though running to countries who don't have our best interest in mind. There really is no perfect answer and there are not always perfect solutions. He took a very large risk.

[PurplePride92]

So he goes to the NYT with his story. Govt is not happy. You think they're not going to find out who leaked the docs? Then what? There is NO other option unless he is willing to fall on the sword and go to jail for life even though he felt he was being a patriot by forcing the govt to change their ways.

 

How do we know they are going to change their ways? Because they said they would? :lol:

 

He should have just kept his mouth shut and quit his job. Him proving the government was wrong doesn't change my opinion about his actions or him being a traitor. Military people have to follow orders on a daily basis and it doesn't matter if they believe they are doing the right thing or not. I don't believe that someone working for a government agency should be held to a different standard. If it is good enough for our soldiers in the field it is good enough for the guys in teh IT department of NSA also. They are all soldiers for our government in my eyes.

[Clyde]

How do we know they are going to change their ways? Because they said they would? :lol:

 

He should have just kept his mouth shut and quit his job. Him proving the government was wrong doesn't change my opinion about his actions or him being a traitor. Military people have to follow orders on a daily basis and it doesn't matter if they believe they are doing the right thing or not. I don't believe that someone working for a government agency should be held to a different standard. If it is good enough for our soldiers in the field it is good enough for the guys in teh IT department of NSA also. They are all soldiers for our government in my eyes.

 

He's not military so that's not applicable IMO. He didn't go public while working for the govt.

 

What if a solider kept his mouth shut while in the military and THEN went to the press after he left the military? Let's say he exposed a military cover-up of multiple rapes?

[Bengal Maniac]

To answer the original question, yes he is a traitor.

[Hatz]

Would you consider someone who gave support,arms, and money to our enemies a traitor ??

 

Are you calling Ronald Reagan a traitor? :idunno:

[woodsrider]

Traitor. When you are in a position that affords you access to top secret info you don't get to choose what you want to squeal about. Just because we are happy to know what he released doesn't make it just.

[LIPTON BASH]

Traitor. When you are in a position that affords you access to top secret info you don't get to choose what you want to squeal about. Just because we are happy to know what he released doesn't make it just.

 

So the government is free to break laws based on their own rules of confidentiality that aren't protected by the constitution ?

[cammando]

Are you calling Ronald Reagan a traitor? :idunno:

Terrorist or freedom fighter?? Traitor or patriot ?? I guess it depends on who's ideology one chooses to cast his allegiance with.. Actually Reagan was just one of the several presidents I thought of..

[woodsrider]

So the government is free to break laws based on their own rules of confidentiality that aren't protected by the constitution ?

So your ok with letting government workers release top secret info if they don't like what is going on?

[B-Ball-fan]

When this news first broke awhile back my first thought was:

 

"Who didn't know that the government was capable of spying on us, and was doing so?"

 

I just thought that the dude was confirming the obvious, and that it was not a shock.

 

If this had never hit the news and someone had asked me if I thought that this was going on, I would've said without hesitation "Absolutely".

 

I'm a big nobody, and I don't have any inside information, but with today's technological capabilities, it just seems like a no brainer that's it's happening.

 

Snowden revealing it hasn't made it stop either.

 

I could never get too worked up with him blowing the whistle, and in wondering too hard whether or not he's a traitor, because my mind all along has pretty much focused on the thought that he was revealing something that was fairly common knowledge anyhow, and if it wasn't, it should be, and him uncovering it was offering us information that is our right to know anyhow. I sorta got a kick out of the government being caught with their pants down, and at least having the burden to have some talking heads try to explain, and watch them sheepishly stutter a bit while trying to to the press.

 

Do we really have any power in stopping it?... No, it's gonna happen whether we like it or not.

 

Sadly, with the invention of stuff like Facebook, the world is going in the direction of becoming complacent about privacy and security anyhow, and it's practically the new normal for what we never would've dared in the past been so open about to blast our entire lives right out here for the whole world to see. We're all letting it happen and falling for it as normal, and forgetting that we were once, not too long ago, a whole lot more private about our lives, and didn't have such easy access to stuff, and not only are we being spied on by our government, we're also all spying on each other as well.

 

I can't believe the information I've found so freely available on the net that I know without a doubt is none of my business. It's creepy. Honestly, why would it be any of my business what someone paid for their home unless they personally chose to tell me? That's just one example, but I've found info like this while thinking that I had no business finding and knowing.

 

Even if we're not personally numbly and dumbly offering information freely via social media, so much info about people is still readily available. I don't have to tell any of you, but we're all sitting right in front of a tool that allows us to be our own private investigators.

 

I've spent my career in IT where security was first and foremost the top priority, and when FB first came about most in my department just scratched our heads and thought that it went against the whole foundation under which we were trained. We just concluded that the general public had not the benefit of this background to be aware of worry, but couldn't help but to think that the world was blindly going mad.

 

Little by little the average user of the internet is becoming more privy to possible traps, but for so long, for example, even in my own family I couldn't convince my zero computer background siblings to be more careful without them considering me to being paranoid. They couldn't comprehend some of the warnings that I was trying to convey to them with things as common as not opening up email attachments. They simply figured that if they knew the sender that if was safe. They weren't aware of all the possible tricks to make things appear to be legit. They're all having so much fun sharing their vacation plans and photos along with their photos that allow thieves to know what to steal in their homes once they get inside all the while knowing the best and most convenient time to break in.

[Clyde]

Traitor. When you are in a position that affords you access to top secret info you don't get to choose what you want to squeal about. Just because we are happy to know what he released doesn't make it just.

 

The end never justifies the means?

[Clyde]

For those that say "come back and state your case in front of a jury"....it doesn't work that way.

 

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/12/if-snowden-returned-us-trial-all-whistleblower-evidence-would-likely-be-inadmissible

[PurplePride92]

He's not military so that's not applicable IMO. He didn't go public while working for the govt.

 

What if a solider kept his mouth shut while in the military and THEN went to the press after he left the military? Let's say he exposed a military cover-up of multiple rapes?

 

I was under the assumption he was still an employee when he fled.

 

Rape is too violent of a crime. Was anyone physically hurt in the info Snowden released?