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Kazakhstan is not the US. We are highly unlikely to see a public uprising in Kazakhstan over this when the country has had the same president since 1991 and ru

Kazakhstan is not the US. We are highly unlikely to see a public uprising in Kazakhstan over this when the country has had the same president since 1991 and rubber-stamp parliament. Protests in 2011 were quelled by gunning down protestors (see below). Nazarbayev, re-elected in a barely contested election to a fifth term on Sunday, was born to a peasant family. He trained as an engineer before rising through the ranks of the Kazakh Communist Party to head it in 1989 and was elected president on the eve of the Soviet breakup in 1991. Since then, his power has become absolute, with resounding, but internationally criticised election victories in 1999, 2005 and 2011. There is no obvious succession plan in place and there are no clear alternatives to Nazarbayev's rule... In 2011, however, a pay dispute in the oil sector turned violent with government troops shooting dead 15 protesters and injuring over a hundred [source:] http://news.yahoo.com/nazarbayev-kazakhstans-moderniser-authoritarian-streak-093944342.html http://news.yahoo.com/nazarbayev-kazakhstans-moderniser-auth...

tobltobs 11y ago
There was no public uprising after Snowden in the US either ... Some will now say you can't compare this. They are right because what Kazakhstan is doing there looks amateurish.
- djsumdog 11y ago
  For a while, I've been in the camp that the Snowden leaks were intentional and that he still works for the US. A rich work from home government contractor, with a smoking hot girlfriend, takes off with secrets and hides in Russia. His hot girlfriend is even allowed to join him. I think it's more likely the Snowden leaks were to show just how little Americans care. They're using that spy network to track reactions.
  - andreyf 11y ago
    If Snowden works for the US, or did when he leaked, who does / did he report to? It certainly wasn't Clapper...
  - asddubs 11y ago
    what does the attractiveness of his girlfriend have to do with it?
- argonaut 11y ago
  Yes, because an overwhelming majority of Americans dislike Snowden. Not a slim majority, an overwhelming one. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/edward-snowden-unpopular-at-home-a-hero-abroad-poll-finds http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/edward-snowde...
  - ionised 11y ago
    An overwhelming majority of those think he is 'the wikileaks guy' though.

tobltobs 11y ago

There was no public uprising after Snowden in the US either ... Some will now say you can't compare this. They are right because what Kazakhstan is doing there looks amateurish.

djsumdog 11y ago
For a while, I've been in the camp that the Snowden leaks were intentional and that he still works for the US. A rich work from home government contractor, with a smoking hot girlfriend, takes off with secrets and hides in Russia. His hot girlfriend is even allowed to join him. I think it's more likely the Snowden leaks were to show just how little Americans care. They're using that spy network to track reactions.
- andreyf 11y ago
  If Snowden works for the US, or did when he leaked, who does / did he report to? It certainly wasn't Clapper...
- asddubs 11y ago
  what does the attractiveness of his girlfriend have to do with it?
argonaut 11y ago
Yes, because an overwhelming majority of Americans dislike Snowden. Not a slim majority, an overwhelming one. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/edward-snowden-unpopular-at-home-a-hero-abroad-poll-finds http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/edward-snowde...
- ionised 11y ago
  An overwhelming majority of those think he is 'the wikileaks guy' though.