Edward Snowden Interview

[jkjsooner]

Anyone watch it?

I have to say that I haven't been a fan of his. The main reason is because he set a dangerous precedent. The CIA or NSA simply couldn't operate if every single analyst/spy decided on their own whether the public rights have been violated and responded by releasing classified information. If that became the norm then we would be in a lot of trouble.

That being said, the guy really came off as being highly intelligent and well spoken. Either he is extremely intelligent or some PR guys really did a fantastic job with him.

[olevetonahill]

Had No desire to watch. Let the Russkies have him.

[OU68]

Anyone watch it?

I have to say that I haven't been a fan of his. The main reason is because he set a dangerous precedent. The CIA or NSA simply couldn't operate if every single analyst/spy decided on their own whether the public rights have been violated and responded by releasing classified information. If that became the norm then we would be in a lot of trouble.

That being said, the guy really came off as being highly intelligent and well spoken. Either he is extremely intelligent or some PR guys really did a fantastic job with him.

This ^^^^^^

[rock on sooner]

Well, I saw only a small part of the interview, where he claims to be a
CIA, NSA and DIA trained spy. Naturally, those alphabets won't say
anything at all, one way or the other. But, if he is telling the truth, then
he is even more of a traitor than a "leaker". That mofo is begging for
a traffic accident or a flight off a 10th floor balcony or some such event.
I have no use for his ilk.

[jiminy]

Well, hey, the revolution's gotta start somewhere

[Curly Bill]

I was against Manning when he/she came out with the WikiLeaks stuff. I was somewhat on the fence about Snowden at first, but as time goes on I'm more and more on both of their sides.

...and yeah, it's kinda sad to say that, but talk about tinfoil hats or whatever you want, but I'm not so certain that the biggest enemy the American people have is not our own government.

Anyway, what up fellas there at the NSA?! Former crypto guy here!

[BoulderSooner79]

Anyone watch it?

I have to say that I haven't been a fan of his. The main reason is because he set a dangerous precedent. The CIA or NSA simply couldn't operate if every single analyst/spy decided on their own whether the public rights have been violated and responded by releasing classified information. If that became the norm then we would be in a lot of trouble.

That being said, the guy really came off as being highly intelligent and well spoken. Either he is extremely intelligent or some PR guys really did a fantastic job with him.

I think Snowden did a great service for the American people. He got the issue of the government trampling privacy and individual rights to the surface and actually being discussed instead of being rubber-stamped as necessary in the fight against terrorism. I fully understand that the government has to go after him too because of the precedent (among other reasons). So yes, we'd be in trouble if every intelligence worker did this. But what if none were willing? That's what we had before and probably after this event. There's the rub. He took one for the team (at least *my* team), and will live in exile for it. I just hope the effect has some permanence. One bright sign is that the big boys such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft are pushing back on the government secretly demanding they hand over their customer data. That's a big move in the right direction and it can directly attributed to Snowden. But these spy/counter spy secrets have the shelf life of a carton of milk and the government will move on to business as usual if the public loses interest and doesn't demand limits on these 3 letter agencies.

[SCOUT]

I am still on the fence. On one hand, I want to know when our government is overstepping their boundaries. On the other hand I respect the need for secrecy in certain things, particularly things in the arena of intelligence.

I don't know enough about Snowden to trust him. I think I should add maybe to that sentence, but again I am not sure. I want to say that he could have gone about it another way, but he makes a convincing argument against that approach. However, I watched the NSA's TED talk response and think he (sorry I forgot his name) made a compelling argument too.

In the end it is a net positive IMO, but it is a good example of the ends justifying the means. Then again, the end justifying the means can be a dangerous path.

My conclusion...****, I don't have one.

[badger]

Who the hell do they think they are? I report to the Prime Minister and even he's smart enough not to ask me what we do. Have you ever seen such a bunch of self-righteous, ***-covering prigs? They don't care what we do; they care what we get photographed doing. And how the hell could Bond be so stupid? I give him double-O status and he celebrates by shooting up an embassy. Is the man deranged? And where the hell is he? In the old days if an agent did something that embarrassing he'd have a good sense to defect. Christ, I miss the Cold War.

Sub in CIA and Snowden-ish :)

[Ton Loc]

Watch Frontline : United States of Secrets (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/united-states-of-secrets/). About three hours long and in two parts but it is awesome and really explains everything that was going wrong with the NSA before Snowden leaked. It wasn't just him who was trying to get the story out.