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I Never Said Snowden Is a Hero; He Should Be Tried

• throwaway420 13y ago
  The biggest problem I have with his statement is that it would be almost impossible for Snowden to receive what most people would consider a fair trial. He likely wouldn't be allowed to argue his motivation and intention for the leaks, make the case that his actions contributed significantly to vital public knowledge about government activity, or that his leaks didn't result in any harm to the US.
  • malandrew 13y ago
    Furthermore, AFAIK he wouldn't be tried in the jurisdiction in which he committed the crimes (Hawaii) and instead would be tried in the backyard of the intelligence community (Virginia), where the makeup of any jury would likely be members of the IC community or greatly sympathetic to the IC way of doing things.
• dmfdmf 13y ago
  > I have not argued, as you allege, that Mr. Snowden is a hero. I have stated that history will decide. This is moral cowardice and political pragmatism at its finest [1]. There is no "history" to decide anything only people who live in the future, far removed from the consequences of making a stand or judgement now. You know how the saying goes... with friends like this... In my judgement, not only is Snowden a hero but he was wise to leave the country as a fair trial seems hopeless, as throwaway420 points out. Given the lack of support for Snowden and the general apathy toward dangerous NSA and other govt programs I am not optimistic. [1] To be clear, I do not consider pragmatism to be a virtue. Political pragmatism means acting without reference or guide to any principles whatsoever and acting on the range of the moment. There is a distinction between being politically practical, i.e. accepting what is and is not politically feasible, and jettisoning your principles when confronted with a threat to those principles. What does Rand Paul stand for? Nothing.