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He'll never get it. He lost any hope of whistle-blower status when he released information on foreign surveillance programs.

finid 10y ago
You must be one of those very "patriotic" Americans. The man sacrificed his freedom so yours may last.
- tptacek 10y ago
  Try to keep in mind that reasonable people disagree about Snowden, and remain civil in conversations about him.
  - pc86 10y ago
    Hell I disagree with myself about it.
- actsasbuffoon 10y ago
  I think you might be jumping the gun on that conclusion. Grand parent may have been describing how things are, not how they think the world should be.
whamlastxmas 10y ago
The government lost any hope of moral high-ground by performing illegal surveillance amongst many other things. It is not reasonable to expect Snowden to selectively only release information that was strictly illegal (due to sheer number of files to sort through) and it is reasonable for someone to whistle-blow through unofficial channels when official ones are not available (and they weren't despite many people trying to advocate that they were - save your breath). Here's an idea - don't do horrifically illegal, amoral things alongside other legal but probably still amoral things, quash all possibilities of accountability, and expect that no one will call you out on it. Snowden did the right thing, and the only thing that could have been done.
- Aloha 10y ago
  Snowden did the right thing - of this I have no doubt. But he also committed a crime - and depending on who you listen to it was either a grave one, or a slight justified one. Do I think his crime justifies 30 years in prison? no. I think the public good he did well offsets most of the harm - but I think he needs to go to jail for some amount of time, even if its only a day.
  - whamlastxmas 10y ago
    Saying something is illegal is not justification for it being amoral/wrong. There are countless obvious examples of this throughout history. This is exact reason pardons exist. People do things that are illegal but not amoral when the system either doesn't account for it, the laws are not up to date to accurately reflect the consensus of a society, or the system is broken and acting outside the broken system was the best option. Snowden doesn't deserve jail time due to the inefficiencies of our democracy. Inefficiencies that are largely due to our completely broken election system, as is obvious with the current presidential election.
- mixmastamyk 10y ago
  That may be "right" or true, but the people in charge will never see it that way. Insert the quote about salary depending on misunderstanding it. p.s. Always loved that song.
- zepto 10y ago
  No. Whistleblowing on illegal government actions is totally different from treason. The fact that part of the government did something illegal in no way justifies undermining national security goals if those two are not related. Snowden clearly did not do the only thing that could have been done. He did release documents selectively, therefore he could have chosen to not release the foreign surveillance information. All governments do bad things. That justifies whistleblowing. It never justifies an attack on the country's international security by its own citizens. In case you handn't noticed, other powerful states have no qualms about cyberwarefare.
dTal 10y ago
When did he do that?

finid 10y ago

You must be one of those very "patriotic" Americans. The man sacrificed his freedom so yours may last.

tptacek 10y ago
Try to keep in mind that reasonable people disagree about Snowden, and remain civil in conversations about him.
- pc86 10y ago
  Hell I disagree with myself about it.
actsasbuffoon 10y ago
I think you might be jumping the gun on that conclusion. Grand parent may have been describing how things are, not how they think the world should be.

whamlastxmas 10y ago

The government lost any hope of moral high-ground by performing illegal surveillance amongst many other things. It is not reasonable to expect Snowden to selectively only release information that was strictly illegal (due to sheer number of files to sort through) and it is reasonable for someone to whistle-blow through unofficial channels when official ones are not available (and they weren't despite many people trying to advocate that they were - save your breath). Here's an idea - don't do horrifically illegal, amoral things alongside other legal but probably still amoral things, quash all possibilities of accountability, and expect that no one will call you out on it. Snowden did the right thing, and the only thing that could have been done.

Aloha 10y ago
Snowden did the right thing - of this I have no doubt. But he also committed a crime - and depending on who you listen to it was either a grave one, or a slight justified one. Do I think his crime justifies 30 years in prison? no. I think the public good he did well offsets most of the harm - but I think he needs to go to jail for some amount of time, even if its only a day.
- whamlastxmas 10y ago
  Saying something is illegal is not justification for it being amoral/wrong. There are countless obvious examples of this throughout history. This is exact reason pardons exist. People do things that are illegal but not amoral when the system either doesn't account for it, the laws are not up to date to accurately reflect the consensus of a society, or the system is broken and acting outside the broken system was the best option. Snowden doesn't deserve jail time due to the inefficiencies of our democracy. Inefficiencies that are largely due to our completely broken election system, as is obvious with the current presidential election.
mixmastamyk 10y ago
That may be "right" or true, but the people in charge will never see it that way. Insert the quote about salary depending on misunderstanding it. p.s. Always loved that song.
zepto 10y ago
No. Whistleblowing on illegal government actions is totally different from treason. The fact that part of the government did something illegal in no way justifies undermining national security goals if those two are not related. Snowden clearly did not do the only thing that could have been done. He did release documents selectively, therefore he could have chosen to not release the foreign surveillance information. All governments do bad things. That justifies whistleblowing. It never justifies an attack on the country's international security by its own citizens. In case you handn't noticed, other powerful states have no qualms about cyberwarefare.

dTal 10y ago

When did he do that?