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How would that take the matter off the table? If Snowden could come back, he could travel around the country doing talks, do interviews, organize protests, etc.
by burkaman 10y ago
How would that take the matter off the table? If Snowden could come back, he could travel around the country doing talks, do interviews, organize protests, etc. If you want people to forget about him, you leave him in Russia and don't put too much effort into bringing him back for a trial.
- theophrastus 10y agoShall we add more hypotheticals to a hypothetical ;)? Pardons may include stipulations. Suppose this one exacted an agreement that no further germane information ("currently in possession of the putative pardonee") will be made public subject to rescinding said pardon? Presidential pardons are typically treated as sacred by the Justice department no matter their form.
- burkaman 10y agoSnowden is already so far down this road, I don't think he would accept anything that forced him to keep quiet. It's pretty clear that he doesn't value his own freedom over his beliefs. And even if he agreed to not release any new information, that's not really what I meant. If he came back and did an interview on every talk show about what he thinks about the surveillance state, the current administration, whatever, that would make it a huge issue again. If you want it to go away, you need to keep him out of the country and out of the public eye.