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The fact that the United States has burned as much political capital as they have chasing him, at least to me, demonstrates a couple of possibilities: 1) What

by blhack 13y ago

The fact that the United States has burned as much political capital as they have chasing him, at least to me, demonstrates a couple of possibilities: 1) What he is saying is true 2) He has something extremely damaging. Otherwise why haven't they just said "lol conspiracy theorists"

quaunaut 13y ago
I totally agree. But at this point, we're kinda just having to take his word for it. I want something specific here. Vague claims of spying over all these services, without specifics, without explaining why it might make sense for these companies to comply and not try to fight it legally(especially when they have grounds provided directly by the US Supreme Court in regards to the NSA letters), is just wearing on me. My attention, my ability to care about this is just running out, plain and simple. I want to be active in this, but when my demands are about as vague as those of the Occupy Wall Street movement, well, not a lot can be done.
- SimHacker 13y ago
  Glenn Greenwald said a year ago that "Relatedly, we find the prevailing sentiment that asylum is something that is only to be granted by the US and its western allies against unfriendly governments. The notion that one may need asylum from the US or the west – or that small Latin American countries unfavorable to the US can grant it rather than have it granted against them – is offensive and perverse to all good and decent western citizens, who know that political persecution is something that happens only far away from them." -Glenn Greenwald, 9 September 2012. Back then, we had to take his word on it. Now the US Government has strong-armed European countries to force the plane of the president of Bolivian down, because they thought he might give Snowden asylum. Now we have absolute incontrovertible proof, above and beyond any of the documents that Snowden leaked, in the tangible form of the US Government's illegal actions in spite of international law, that prove what Greenwald said was 100% right. What more could you ask for??? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6044406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6044406
cromwellian 13y ago
Bradley Manning had nothing extremely damaging, yet has been treated very harshly. The spooks will prosecute you because in their mind, anything classified that is released is serious. Honestly, some of what Snowden/Greenwald claim sounds like embellishment or bluster, and saying that Snowden has a dead-man's switch is a good way to get him assassinated by enemies of the US. It would be tragic if he is harmed because of bluffing.
- igravious 13y ago
  > Honestly, some of what Snowden/Greenwald claim sounds like embellishment or bluster This is vague. What exactly do you think is bluster or embellishment. Greenwald is a very precise and measured journalist. Snowden strikes me as very cautious. > and saying that Snowden has a dead-man's switch ... Show me (in Greenwald's own words) where Greenwald claimed this of Snowden.
  - shabble 13y ago
    > Show me (in Greenwald's own words) where Greenwald claimed this of Snowden. From TFA: > Asked about a so-called dead man's pact, which Greenwald has said would allow several people to access Snowden's trove of documents were anything to happen to him, Greenwald replied that "media descriptions of it have been overly simplistic. > "It's not just a matter of, if he dies, things get released, it's more nuanced than that," he said. "It's really just a way to protect himself against extremely rogue behavior on the part of the United States, by which I mean violent actions toward him, designed to end his life, and it's just a way to ensure that nobody feels incentivized to do that." Which does sound like a direct quote from Greenwald, partly confirming (Yes, docs can still be released if he's dead), and partly rejecting (the "overly simplistic" and "rogue behavior on the part of the United States - which suggests it's not automatic, so enemies of the US would need to convincingly false-flag it for the desired outcome)

by blhack 13y ago

quaunaut 13y ago

I totally agree. But at this point, we're kinda just having to take his word for it. I want something specific here. Vague claims of spying over all these services, without specifics, without explaining why it might make sense for these companies to comply and not try to fight it legally(especially when they have grounds provided directly by the US Supreme Court in regards to the NSA letters), is just wearing on me. My attention, my ability to care about this is just running out, plain and simple. I want to be active in this, but when my demands are about as vague as those of the Occupy Wall Street movement, well, not a lot can be done.

SimHacker 13y ago
Glenn Greenwald said a year ago that "Relatedly, we find the prevailing sentiment that asylum is something that is only to be granted by the US and its western allies against unfriendly governments. The notion that one may need asylum from the US or the west – or that small Latin American countries unfavorable to the US can grant it rather than have it granted against them – is offensive and perverse to all good and decent western citizens, who know that political persecution is something that happens only far away from them." -Glenn Greenwald, 9 September 2012. Back then, we had to take his word on it. Now the US Government has strong-armed European countries to force the plane of the president of Bolivian down, because they thought he might give Snowden asylum. Now we have absolute incontrovertible proof, above and beyond any of the documents that Snowden leaked, in the tangible form of the US Government's illegal actions in spite of international law, that prove what Greenwald said was 100% right. What more could you ask for??? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6044406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6044406

cromwellian 13y ago

Bradley Manning had nothing extremely damaging, yet has been treated very harshly. The spooks will prosecute you because in their mind, anything classified that is released is serious. Honestly, some of what Snowden/Greenwald claim sounds like embellishment or bluster, and saying that Snowden has a dead-man's switch is a good way to get him assassinated by enemies of the US. It would be tragic if he is harmed because of bluffing.

igravious 13y ago
> Honestly, some of what Snowden/Greenwald claim sounds like embellishment or bluster This is vague. What exactly do you think is bluster or embellishment. Greenwald is a very precise and measured journalist. Snowden strikes me as very cautious. > and saying that Snowden has a dead-man's switch ... Show me (in Greenwald's own words) where Greenwald claimed this of Snowden.
- shabble 13y ago
  > Show me (in Greenwald's own words) where Greenwald claimed this of Snowden. From TFA: > Asked about a so-called dead man's pact, which Greenwald has said would allow several people to access Snowden's trove of documents were anything to happen to him, Greenwald replied that "media descriptions of it have been overly simplistic. > "It's not just a matter of, if he dies, things get released, it's more nuanced than that," he said. "It's really just a way to protect himself against extremely rogue behavior on the part of the United States, by which I mean violent actions toward him, designed to end his life, and it's just a way to ensure that nobody feels incentivized to do that." Which does sound like a direct quote from Greenwald, partly confirming (Yes, docs can still be released if he's dead), and partly rejecting (the "overly simplistic" and "rogue behavior on the part of the United States - which suggests it's not automatic, so enemies of the US would need to convincingly false-flag it for the desired outcome)