Edward Snowden, the former American intelligence analyst whose courageous exposure of the federal government’s domestic spying program has made him a wanted man, is holed up in the transit area of Sheremetyevo International Airport outside of Moscow.
In fact the 30-year-old libertarian hero has been there since Sunday – a fact which was confirmed by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“It is true that Mr Snowden arrived in Moscow, which was completely unexpected for us,” Putin said. “He came as a transit passenger, so he didn’t need a visa or other documents. As a transit passenger, he has the right to buy a plane ticket and go wherever he wants.”
What’s next for Snowden – who originally fled to Hong Kong in the wake of his seismic disclosures – is not clear. U.S. officials are working feverishly to have him extradited so that he can be tried on espionage charges related to his revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA).
Ponder that for a moment …
The so-called leader of the free world – which has been running in a massive, secretive spy program against its people – wants to imprison the guy who exposed this Orwellian surveillance scheme (which is costing the taxpayers being spied upon billions of dollars a year).
Meanwhile the leader of Mother Russia says he is free to “go wherever he wants.”
Script. Flipped.
“Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light …”
Everything Edward Snowden has said about America’s spy program has turned out to be true. Meanwhile everything the government has said in its defense has turned out to be a lie.
And somehow Snowden is the criminal here? What a country we live in all of a sudden …
***
74 comments
Edward Snowden is a hero and his acts extremely patriotic. Thank you Mr. Snowden. May God bless you.
Edward Snowden is a hero and his acts extremely patriotic. Thank you Mr. Snowden. May God bless you.
This man will be hunted the rest of his days. Even if he ends up in a country that won’t extradite him to the US, he will always have to look over his shoulder for someone coming to haul him off in a private plane, courtesy of the CIA.
Thank you, Mr. Snowden, for your sacrifice.
I’d put my money on a drone strike shortly after Glenn Greenwald “accidentally” dies in a car crash in Brazil. No trial, just “problem staying solved”.
Sounds about right…
That would be my bet as well, unfortunately.
Drone strike, against an American citizen? Oh, that’s right, it’s ok in their eyes. As I’ve said before, fuck the federal government. These bastards have thier own agenda and are only in it for themselves. Mr. Snowden, thank you for providing us the truth.
This man will be hunted the rest of his days. Even if he ends up in a country that won’t extradite him to the US, he will always have to look over his shoulder for someone coming to haul him off in a private plane, courtesy of the CIA.
Thank you, Mr. Snowden, for your sacrifice.
I’d put my money on a drone strike shortly after Glenn Greenwald “accidentally” dies in a car crash in Brazil. No trial, just “problem staying solved”.
Sounds about right…
That would be my bet as well, unfortunately.
Drone strike, against an American citizen? Oh, that’s right, it’s ok in their eyes. As I’ve said before, fuck the federal government. These bastards have thier own agenda and are only in it for themselves. Mr. Snowden, thank you for providing us the truth.
So glad that Putin has told us that there are no political prisoners in Russia. Pussy Riot will be happy to hear this. Putin- Sic Willie’s newest hero.
So glad that Putin has told us that there are no political prisoners in Russia. Pussy Riot will be happy to hear this. Putin- Sic Willie’s newest hero.
What we as voters (and this means the entire population) over the next 3 election cycles – 6 years) need to vote absolutely every incumbent OUT of office. No matter how much you think your Congressman is doing for you, they ALL need to go. Then we need TERM limits, get rid of the ridiculous benefits being paid to all of these retired lamb politicians and start from scratch.
Until then, we are all prisoners in our own country. Do you know that southern states are the majority of the States in this country that do not allow Referendums and Initiatives (i.e. where us voters/taxpayers cannot do a petition and get something on the ballot (e.g. ethics reforms, term limits) or a ballot to boot a politician out of office for misdeeds). So in the end, southern states fought the civil war and claimed it was about State’s rights – what happened to our rights. Guess what folks – we are slaves to the State and the Federal governments. Too many rich politicians getting richer every day off of our backs.
The Tea Party and the 99% Groups are not too different from one another – if they could combine their efforts and blast all of these incumbents out of office.
PS – to screw with the NSA, everyone should say on all of their phone calls that they are going to “kill him”. Certainly hard to figure out who “him” or “her” is and it will overload their network.
What we as voters (and this means the entire population) over the next 3
election cycles – 6 years) need to vote absolutely every incumbent OUT
of office.
I’d agree with that. There’s maybe a dozen out of Congress that have voted consistently against government stripping our rights from us in the name of protection, the rest are just dipshits wanting to keep their power and wealth by selling this country down the river, honestly. Unfortunately, knowing the solution to our woes and implementing it are two entirely different things. :(
What we as voters (and this means the entire population) over the next 3 election cycles – 6 years) need to vote absolutely every incumbent OUT of office. No matter how much you think your Congressman is doing for you, they ALL need to go. Then we need TERM limits, get rid of the ridiculous benefits being paid to all of these retired lamb politicians and start from scratch.
Until then, we are all prisoners in our own country. Do you know that southern states are the majority of the States in this country that do not allow Referendums and Initiatives (i.e. where us voters/taxpayers cannot do a petition and get something on the ballot (e.g. ethics reforms, term limits) or a ballot to boot a politician out of office for misdeeds). So in the end, southern states fought the civil war and claimed it was about State’s rights – what happened to our rights. Guess what folks – we are slaves to the State and the Federal governments. Too many rich politicians getting richer every day off of our backs.
The Tea Party and the 99% Groups are not too different from one another – if they could combine their efforts and blast all of these incumbents out of office.
PS – to screw with the NSA, everyone should say on all of their phone calls that they are going to “kill him”. Certainly hard to figure out who “him” or “her” is and it will overload their network.
What we as voters (and this means the entire population) over the next 3
election cycles – 6 years) need to vote absolutely every incumbent OUT
of office.
I’d agree with that. There’s maybe a dozen out of Congress that have voted consistently against government stripping our rights from us in the name of protection, the rest are just dipshits wanting to keep their power and wealth by selling this country down the river, honestly. Unfortunately, knowing the solution to our woes and implementing it are two entirely different things. :(
It’s interesting to see the US gov’ts various Apparatchik’s wailing in puerile impotence as HK, China, and now Russia tell them they can go screw themselves in their desire to strip whatever remaining liberties are left for Mr. Snowden.
The irony of the sycophants in our lapdog press, goaded on by same among our population to bring back Snowden to the “land of the free” where he can sit in a jail cell for 3 years in violation of Habeas Corpus while our glorious gov’t continues to also shit on the 4th amendment and conduct its illegal wars is enough to make one puke.
Our government has become the very thing it claimed to despise. It’s a lawless & brutal monster.
What have they done wrong. Read the constitution. See the word privacy in there? No. BC its not. Founding fathers didn’t give us a right to privacy for a reason. Complain to your congressman and senators to pass an amendment providing for it. That’s the best you can hope for.
“Founding fathers didn’t give us a right to privacy for a reason.”
Are you seriously that daft?
“the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”
Even further, what does this “F” in “FISA” stand for?
Not only is it quite clear they’ve broken and continue to break the law, idiots like yourself cheer them on.
“Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ? Samuel Adams
It’s interesting to see the US gov’ts various Apparatchik’s wailing in puerile impotence as HK, China, and now Russia tell them they can go screw themselves in their desire to strip whatever remaining liberties are left for Mr. Snowden.
The irony of the sycophants in our lapdog press, goaded on by same among our population to bring back Snowden to the “land of the free” where he can sit in a jail cell for 3 years in violation of Habeas Corpus while our glorious gov’t continues to also shit on the 4th amendment and conduct its illegal wars is enough to make one puke.
Our government has become the very thing it claimed to despise. It’s a lawless & brutal monster.
What have they done wrong. Read the constitution. See the word privacy in there? No. BC its not. Founding fathers didn’t give us a right to privacy for a reason. Complain to your congressman and senators to pass an amendment providing for it. That’s the best you can hope for.
“Founding fathers didn’t give us a right to privacy for a reason.”
Are you seriously that daft?
“the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”
Even further, what does this “F” in “FISA” stand for?
Not only is it quite clear they’ve broken and continue to break the law, idiots like yourself cheer them on.
“Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ? Samuel Adams
Does it matter if they catch him or not? He’s already turned over everything he has in encrypted data to the Russians, he’s just waiting to release the key so it can be accessed.
Does it matter if they catch him or not? He’s already turned over everything he has in encrypted data to the Russians, he’s just waiting to release the key so it can be accessed.
Pretty cool that he’s getting a pass to head out, glad these countries aren’t giving in to our government.
Pretty cool that he’s getting a pass to head out, glad these countries aren’t giving in to our government.
Sorry guys, but this guy is no hero. He is a coward. He has hurt this country, aided its enemies and endangered the lives US Citizens at home and abroad.
I don’t like the program. I believe the legislation authorizing it should never have been passed. I believe it should be repealed or severely curtailed and subjected to strict court oversight, However, if you did not know this was going on you live in a bubble and the existence of this program can be laid right at the feet of everyone who did not speak out against it when the NSA was caught spying last time.
There is a procedure for dealing with laws we do not like. That procedure is to change the law. While Civil disobedience is a way to draw attention to needed change, it must be held within bounds. You can’t blow up a federal office buildings full of people to prove federal buildings are susceptible to terrorist attack. You can’t blow up oil wells and coal mines because you believe they are killing us all with pollution. You can sabotage nuclear plants to prove nuclear energy is not safe. Actions have consequences.
Mr. Snowdon took his job to gain access to classified US information. He stole that information and I believe he has delivered that information to the Chinese and the Russians. That makes him a spy and a traitor, and my hope is he is captured and punished accordingly.
If he was a patriot, doing this out of love of country, he would have exposed the information and remained in this country to accept the consequences of his actions. He did not. He stole the information and fled into the hands of our enemies; where that information is being delivered voluntarily to or will be extracted involuntarily by those enemies.
Consequences will result from the way this was handled. Lets just hope none of our service men and women or family members have to pay a higher price for their country than this little coward was willing to pay.
Excellent post.
More moronic than usual post
Let me guess? If this were done under Bush’s watch, he would be a hero, right?
Snowden risked his liberty and safety to help all Americans. He is the opposite of a coward. The cowards are those who authorized the snooping, not the guy who exposed it.
And do you really think he could have changed the law through running this up the chain with his superiors? Child please …
EXACTLY!
Boy, you do not read my comments do you. The NSA under Bush was spying on Americans illegally with the help of the wireless companies. After they were caught, Congress revised FISA to expand the ability of the NSA to spy on Americans and to provide retroactive immunity for the wireless companies. That expansion of power is what gave the NSA the green light to do what they have been doing since 2004.
Almost no one bitched about that expansion of power, except people you would probably call dirty liberals, the ACLU. This was all over the news. Everyone knew. Nothing has changed. Why didn’t all you people speak up when it counted. Because the Republicans were in power, that’s why.
Fix the law. But don’t betray the country and put our security and operatives at risk. He should get the punishment any spy would get.
“There is a procedure for dealing with laws we do not like. That procedure is to change the law.”
Yea, there is a procedure…it’s called a “Constitutional Amendment”, which was not undertaken. It was an illegal law to start, passed illegally, proposed illegally, etc.
“If he was a patriot, doing this out of love of country, he would have exposed the information and remained in this country to accept the consequences of his actions.”
Bullshit. Remain in a country that has no respect for the law, held naked in a jail for 3 years to show his “sacrifice”? Double bullshit. You are full of shit.
Even principled Lefties know you are a full of shit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lauELK3N8Q0
Our gov’t BROKE THE LAW, and continues to break the law.
“He stole the information and fled into the hands of our enemies.”
Yea, let’s examine that for a moment. He “stole” the information our gov’t “stole” from us, right?
There’s a name for that….what is it…hmmm…oh yea…it’s called “hypocrisy”.
If snowden would be a little smart he could be able to finish the high school. Russian and Chinese are behind this dirty game and the snow idiot just a tool.
Sorry guys, but this guy is no hero. He is a coward. He has hurt this country, aided its enemies and endangered the lives US Citizens at home and abroad.
I don’t like the program. I believe the legislation authorizing it should never have been passed. I believe it should be repealed or severely curtailed and subjected to strict court oversight, However, if you did not know this was going on you live in a bubble and the existence of this program can be laid right at the feet of everyone who did not speak out against it when the NSA was caught spying last time.
There is a procedure for dealing with laws we do not like. That procedure is to change the law. While Civil disobedience is a way to draw attention to needed change, it must be held within bounds. You can’t blow up a federal office buildings full of people to prove federal buildings are susceptible to terrorist attack. You can’t blow up oil wells and coal mines because you believe they are killing us all with pollution. You can sabotage nuclear plants to prove nuclear energy is not safe. Actions have consequences.
Mr. Snowdon took his job to gain access to classified US information. He stole that information and I believe he has delivered that information to the Chinese and the Russians. That makes him a spy and a traitor, and my hope is he is captured and punished accordingly.
If he was a patriot, doing this out of love of country, he would have exposed the information and remained in this country to accept the consequences of his actions. He did not. He stole the information and fled into the hands of our enemies; where that information is being delivered voluntarily to or will be extracted involuntarily by those enemies.
Consequences will result from the way this was handled. Lets just hope none of our service men and women or family members have to pay a higher price for their country than this little coward was willing to pay.
Excellent post.
More moronic than usual post
Let me guess? If this were done under Bush’s watch, he would be a hero, right?
Snowden risked his liberty and safety to help all Americans. He is the opposite of a coward. The cowards are those who authorized the snooping, not the guy who exposed it.
And do you really think he could have changed the law through running this up the chain with his superiors? Child please …
EXACTLY!
Boy, you do not read my comments do you. The NSA under Bush was spying on Americans illegally with the help of the wireless companies. After they were caught, Congress revised FISA to expand the ability of the NSA to spy on Americans and to provide retroactive immunity for the wireless companies. That expansion of power is what gave the NSA the green light to do what they have been doing since 2004.
Almost no one bitched about that expansion of power, except people you would probably call dirty liberals, the ACLU. This was all over the news. Everyone knew. Nothing has changed. Why didn’t all you people speak up when it counted. Because the Republicans were in power, that’s why.
Fix the law. But don’t betray the country and put our security and operatives at risk. He should get the punishment any spy would get.
“There is a procedure for dealing with laws we do not like. That procedure is to change the law.”
Yea, there is a procedure…it’s called a “Constitutional Amendment”, which was not undertaken. It was an illegal law to start, passed illegally, proposed illegally, etc.
“If he was a patriot, doing this out of love of country, he would have exposed the information and remained in this country to accept the consequences of his actions.”
Bullshit. Remain in a country that has no respect for the law, held naked in a jail for 3 years to show his “sacrifice”? Double bullshit. You are full of shit.
Even principled Lefties know you are a full of shit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lauELK3N8Q0
Our gov’t BROKE THE LAW, and continues to break the law.
“He stole the information and fled into the hands of our enemies.”
Yea, let’s examine that for a moment. He “stole” the information our gov’t “stole” from us, right?
There’s a name for that….what is it…hmmm…oh yea…it’s called “hypocrisy”.
If snowden would be a little smart he could be able to finish the high school. Russian and Chinese are behind this dirty game and the snow idiot just a tool.
While conceptually he did a brave act and opposed and exposed brazen 4th amendment
violations .
However, I do not believe he is anything other than a high school drop-out,with crazy security clearance, who is a coward but wanted and got his 15 minutes plus of fame.
Enjoy it Edward Sissorsbrain !
Congrats for buying the propaganda that the story should be about Snowden’s character rather than the snooping itself. You have bought into the red herring.
The funny thing is, “lawzoo” isn’t even exactly accurate…Snowden dropped out of high school because of mono and went on to get his GED after recovery.
Of course, when your only news source are the taking heads on TV you never get to understand a larger picture.
Even then, these sycophants never have the logic to take their silly commentary to the next step, like:
“What would our glorious gov’t hire a contractor dedicated to such sensitive work that uses “dropouts” to gather/filter/analyze such data?”
Half of them pretend that the question doesn’t exist, the other half of them are just too stupid to know to think of asking.
They are either immoral or stupid.
edit: “Why would our”
Your comment about “…glorious gov’t….” was what I was referring to by “crazy security clearance”.
Also I didn’t know ( I really don’t know a lot about Eddie’s life hx and really don’t care) about the mono. A GED damn sure should not qualify him to have access to all that he did.
Again the exposure was welcomed but the messenger and future
exposures by high schoolers seeking fame Kardashian style scares the hell out of me.
Yes being spied on does to but I can beware of that. There are a lot of Kardashians.
“Yes being spied on does too but I can beware of that.”
You are only fully aware of it because of Snowden.
In my mind, you start with the initial crime…which is our gov’t violating the 4th(among others)…then in the context of the results you address whether the person reporting the crime is “guilty” of having done so.
Our gov’t has successfully used media to turn the issue of Snowden into one being more important than the crimes it has and continues to commit.
The best analogy I can think of is the notion of a guy killing someone engaged in murder and the “people”(gov’t) then prosecuting him over it.
No. It has been since 9/11 and The Patriot Act that I have been aware of the scrutiny. It certainly hasn’t diminished.
About Snowden I couldn’t care less about him. I am amazed that there are many like him with the Security Clearance to act as a
vigilante.
I think Fast Eddie may have snookered me by going to the bastion of freedom and liberty China (H.K.).
Last I heard he was hanging with Pussy Riot in beautiful downtown Moscow-On the Square.
Once again the exposure is welcomed. However by immediately running to the enemy (Insert Allies treatise here) the heroic part is negated.
Red herring? No the truth about motivation does not lie in love of America
obviously.
You kind of lost me at “coward”.
While conceptually he did a brave act and opposed and exposed brazen 4th amendment
violations .
However, I do not believe he is anything other than a high school drop-out,with crazy security clearance, who is a coward but wanted and got his 15 minutes plus of fame.
Enjoy it Edward Sissorsbrain !
Congrats for buying the propaganda that the story should be about Snowden’s character rather than the snooping itself. You have bought into the red herring.
The funny thing is, “lawzoo” isn’t even exactly accurate…Snowden dropped out of high school because of mono and went on to get his GED after recovery.
Of course, when your only news source are the taking heads on TV you never get to understand a larger picture.
Even then, these sycophants never have the logic to take their silly commentary to the next step, like:
“What would our glorious gov’t hire a contractor dedicated to such sensitive work that uses “dropouts” to gather/filter/analyze such data?”
Half of them pretend that the question doesn’t exist, the other half of them are just too stupid to know to think of asking.
They are either immoral or stupid.
edit: “Why would our”
Your comment about “…glorious gov’t….” was what I was referring to by “crazy security clearance”.
Also I didn’t know ( I really don’t know a lot about Eddie’s life hx and really don’t care) about the mono. A GED damn sure should not qualify him to have access to all that he did.
Again the exposure was welcomed but the messenger and future
exposures by high schoolers seeking fame Kardashian style scares the hell out of me.
Yes being spied on does too but I can beware of that. There are a lot of Kardashians.
“Yes being spied on does too but I can beware of that.”
You are only fully aware of it because of Snowden.
In my mind, you start with the initial crime…which is our gov’t violating the 4th(among others)…then in the context of the results you address whether the person reporting the crime is “guilty” of having done so.
Our gov’t has successfully used media to turn the issue of Snowden into one being more important than the crimes it has and continues to commit.
The best analogy I can think of is the notion of a guy killing someone engaged in murder and the “people”(gov’t) then prosecuting him over it.
No. It has been since 9/11 and The Patriot Act that I have been aware of the scrutiny. It certainly hasn’t diminished.
About Snowden I couldn’t care less about him. I am amazed that there are many like him with the Security Clearance to act as a
vigilante.
I think Fast Eddie may have snookered me by going to the bastion of freedom and liberty China (H.K.).
Last I heard he was hanging with Pussy Riot in beautiful downtown Moscow-On the Square.
Once again the exposure is welcomed. However by immediately running to the enemy (Insert Allies treatise here) the heroic part is negated.
Red herring? No the truth about motivation does not lie in love of America
obviously.
You kind of lost me at “coward”.
Like most libertarians, this idiot doesn’t understand the magnitude of his actions and what it means for national security.
I don’t trust Obama or half his administration at all, but I do trust the decades of leaders(nat’l security officials, congressmen, presidents) who’ve sanctioned this kind of stuff BC they have more info than us and know it keeps us safe. To believe we’re not at risk from terrorist attacks is ignoring history and the realities of this world altogether. Snowden can shoot himself in the balls, as he said should happen to people like him 4 years ago.
“I don’t trust Obama or half his administration at all, but I do trust the decades of leaders(nat’l security officials, congressmen, presidents) who’ve sanctioned this kind of stuff BC they have more info than us and know it keeps us safe.”
You don’t trust Obama, but you trust everyone else, cause they know stuff?
You are a true moron.
“To believe we’re not at risk from terrorist attacks is ignoring history and the realities of this world altogether.”
That’s not the argument champ. The argument is how much freedom should we give up to prevent the terrorist attacks that are causing our loss of freedom.
“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”-Ben Franklin
“To believe we’re not at risk from our own government slipping towards totalitarianism and freedom disappearing from the USA is ignoring history and the realities of this world …”
Fixed it fer ya!
Like most libertarians, this idiot doesn’t understand the magnitude of his actions and what it means for national security.
I don’t trust Obama or half his administration at all, but I do trust the decades of leaders(nat’l security officials, congressmen, presidents) who’ve sanctioned this kind of stuff BC they have more info than us and know it keeps us safe. To believe we’re not at risk from terrorist attacks is ignoring history and the realities of this world altogether. Snowden can shoot himself in the balls, as he said should happen to people like him 4 years ago.
“I don’t trust Obama or half his administration at all, but I do trust the decades of leaders(nat’l security officials, congressmen, presidents) who’ve sanctioned this kind of stuff BC they have more info than us and know it keeps us safe.”
You don’t trust Obama, but you trust everyone else, cause they know stuff?
You are a true moron.
“To believe we’re not at risk from terrorist attacks is ignoring history and the realities of this world altogether.”
That’s not the argument champ. The argument is how much freedom should we give up to prevent the terrorist attacks that are causing our loss of freedom.
“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”-Ben Franklin
“To believe we’re not at risk from our own government slipping towards totalitarianism and freedom disappearing from the USA is ignoring history and the realities of this world …”
Fixed it fer ya!
If no country accepts him, he will be a man without a country. In due time he will miss USA and the freedom he has had. IMO, he is very immature and and does not care what the consequences may result. He’s definitely a traitor.
If no country accepts him, he will be a man without a country. In due time he will miss USA and the freedom he has had. IMO, he is very immature and and does not care what the consequences may result. He’s definitely a traitor.
This dipshit is insane. He once said that anyone who reveals government secrets should be shot in the groin.
Wonder if he realizes that he is staying in a country that one time was our enemy.
One time was our enemy???? If you think the Russian Federation does not still consider the US its No. 1 enemy, you are sadly mistaken.
This dipshit is insane. He once said that anyone who reveals government secrets should be shot in the groin.
Wonder if he realizes that he is staying in a country that one time was our enemy.
One time was our enemy???? If you think the Russian Federation does not still consider the US its No. 1 enemy, you are sadly mistaken.