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I wish Snowden would roll up his sleeves and start working on the same problem in Russia, where he now lives, and in China, where he stayed briefly on his way t

I wish Snowden would roll up his sleeves and start working on the same problem in Russia, where he now lives, and in China, where he stayed briefly on his way to Russia. His mission has hardly begun.

quesera 13y ago
His mission to save the world from itself? He wasn't born tomorrow.
visakanv 13y ago
That really sounds like a lot to ask of one person!
flyinglizard 13y ago
By his revelations, Snowden made the NSA activities a matter of political debate. That was his mission. In both Russia and China, citizens are very well aware of shady government practices. Their problem is already political, not one of awareness.
Zigurd 13y ago
If you feel so strongly, you do it.
- tokenadult 13y ago
  I've been telling people about the problems in China for a very long time. The Chinese embassy staff may have been videotaping out the window when I joined a large public protest outside the embassy.
  - mladenkovacevic 13y ago
    Oh so you're working on fixing China already then! Good. I'll handle Uganda, we'll find a Russian on here to take care of Russia and let's leave the US to Snowden then.. Deal.
  - barry-cotter 13y ago
    Of course the Chinese embassy was videotaping you. The American embassy in Dublin does it, and Ireland is a political irrelevance from a US perspective.
woah 13y ago
The whole argument about Russia being way worse than the US, and Snowden staying there is ridiculous. He isn't staying there as some sort of celebrity endorsement for the tourism program. He's staying there because it is the only place he was able to reach in time, as Russia is one of the few countries too big to be invaded by the US military.
- Grue3 13y ago
  He's there because he's a coward with no backbone. If he is so sure of his innocence, he'd be facing the court instead of propping up a government with terrible human rights record.
  - malandrew 13y ago
    First, Daniel Ellsberg on why Snowden made the right call [0]. Second, if he were being charged in the correct jurisdiction, i.e. Hawaii, where he committed his crimes, I would agree with this sentiment. But no, he's been charged with crimes in Virginia, the backyard of the intelligence community. His peers are the American people, not the intelligence community. The government had no business bringing charges against him in another jurisdiction than the one he committed the crimes in. Doing so, shows incredibly poor faith, and a clear intention to get a conviction and harsh sentence by any means necessary, even if it means subverting how our justice system is supposed to work. [0] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-leaker-snowden-made-the-right-call/2013/07/07/0b46d96c-e5b7-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-l...
  - Peaker 13y ago
    Do you really believe the court system works to determine innocence? Do you believe he would be guaranteed a fair trial? Do you think Manning got a fair trial? Do you believe that by taking refuge in Russia he's "propping up" their government? How? Do you believe that giving up a 6-figure salary and life to expose violations of the US constitution is an act of a coward? Are these opinions harbored by real people, or is this a troll?
    - 13y ago
mc32 13y ago
The real problem with that wish is that neither of those gov'ts would trust him with any of their methods or secrets. The best you can hope for is that people in analogous positions within those countries' surveillance agencies are moved by his example and follow it. In any event, he's mixed up in realpolitik but that was his only choice, if he wanted to avoid the domestic repercussions of his actions.
recursive 13y ago
I wish someone would roll up their sleeves and make me dinner! I'm hungry already.
mladenkovacevic 13y ago
Your comment makes no sense to me. He was born and raised in United States, not in China and/or Russia. Why would he be trying to fix those countries?
gruseom 13y ago
Perhaps he will, if he ever swears an oath to defend the Russian or Chinese constitutions.
eru 13y ago
Depends on whether he wants to take on more than civic duty.
HCIdivision17 13y ago
Is there a way to incubate people like Snowden? I suspect Snowden could be a spokesman or figurehead for movements in other countries, but I have a hard time thinking he could ever repeat another data dump without becoming a real spy. Could someone as public and recognizable be effective in getting inconvenient intelligence from other countries?
- malandrew 13y ago
  Doubt it, but we could incubate people like Greenwald in every country. Find someone articulate, savvy and train them in tradecraft so that people in every country have someone they can safely approach. Citizens of many countries don't have the luxury of knowing which journalists they can approach with their leak.
PavlovsCat 13y ago
How? Just apply to one of their secret agencies and promise he will never ever leak anything? He doesn't have superpowers. Even when it comes to the NSA, let's make the most of what Snowden did do -- he might be the last whistleblower we've seen in a while, seeing how the NSA said they would seek to replace as human system administrators with automation where possible.

I wish Snowden would roll up his sleeves and start working on the same problem in Russia, where he now lives, and in China, where he stayed briefly on his way to Russia. His mission has hardly begun.

quesera 13y ago

His mission to save the world from itself? He wasn't born tomorrow.

visakanv 13y ago

That really sounds like a lot to ask of one person!

flyinglizard 13y ago

By his revelations, Snowden made the NSA activities a matter of political debate. That was his mission. In both Russia and China, citizens are very well aware of shady government practices. Their problem is already political, not one of awareness.

Zigurd 13y ago

If you feel so strongly, you do it.

tokenadult 13y ago
I've been telling people about the problems in China for a very long time. The Chinese embassy staff may have been videotaping out the window when I joined a large public protest outside the embassy.
- mladenkovacevic 13y ago
  Oh so you're working on fixing China already then! Good. I'll handle Uganda, we'll find a Russian on here to take care of Russia and let's leave the US to Snowden then.. Deal.
- barry-cotter 13y ago
  Of course the Chinese embassy was videotaping you. The American embassy in Dublin does it, and Ireland is a political irrelevance from a US perspective.

woah 13y ago

The whole argument about Russia being way worse than the US, and Snowden staying there is ridiculous. He isn't staying there as some sort of celebrity endorsement for the tourism program. He's staying there because it is the only place he was able to reach in time, as Russia is one of the few countries too big to be invaded by the US military.

Grue3 13y ago
He's there because he's a coward with no backbone. If he is so sure of his innocence, he'd be facing the court instead of propping up a government with terrible human rights record.
- malandrew 13y ago
  First, Daniel Ellsberg on why Snowden made the right call [0]. Second, if he were being charged in the correct jurisdiction, i.e. Hawaii, where he committed his crimes, I would agree with this sentiment. But no, he's been charged with crimes in Virginia, the backyard of the intelligence community. His peers are the American people, not the intelligence community. The government had no business bringing charges against him in another jurisdiction than the one he committed the crimes in. Doing so, shows incredibly poor faith, and a clear intention to get a conviction and harsh sentence by any means necessary, even if it means subverting how our justice system is supposed to work. [0] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-leaker-snowden-made-the-right-call/2013/07/07/0b46d96c-e5b7-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-l...
- Peaker 13y ago
  Do you really believe the court system works to determine innocence? Do you believe he would be guaranteed a fair trial? Do you think Manning got a fair trial? Do you believe that by taking refuge in Russia he's "propping up" their government? How? Do you believe that giving up a 6-figure salary and life to expose violations of the US constitution is an act of a coward? Are these opinions harbored by real people, or is this a troll?
  - 13y ago

mc32 13y ago

The real problem with that wish is that neither of those gov'ts would trust him with any of their methods or secrets. The best you can hope for is that people in analogous positions within those countries' surveillance agencies are moved by his example and follow it. In any event, he's mixed up in realpolitik but that was his only choice, if he wanted to avoid the domestic repercussions of his actions.

recursive 13y ago

I wish someone would roll up their sleeves and make me dinner! I'm hungry already.

mladenkovacevic 13y ago

Your comment makes no sense to me. He was born and raised in United States, not in China and/or Russia. Why would he be trying to fix those countries?

gruseom 13y ago

Perhaps he will, if he ever swears an oath to defend the Russian or Chinese constitutions.

eru 13y ago

Depends on whether he wants to take on more than civic duty.

HCIdivision17 13y ago

Is there a way to incubate people like Snowden? I suspect Snowden could be a spokesman or figurehead for movements in other countries, but I have a hard time thinking he could ever repeat another data dump without becoming a real spy. Could someone as public and recognizable be effective in getting inconvenient intelligence from other countries?

malandrew 13y ago
Doubt it, but we could incubate people like Greenwald in every country. Find someone articulate, savvy and train them in tradecraft so that people in every country have someone they can safely approach. Citizens of many countries don't have the luxury of knowing which journalists they can approach with their leak.

PavlovsCat 13y ago

How? Just apply to one of their secret agencies and promise he will never ever leak anything? He doesn't have superpowers. Even when it comes to the NSA, let's make the most of what Snowden did do -- he might be the last whistleblower we've seen in a while, seeing how the NSA said they would seek to replace as human system administrators with automation where possible.