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Gates is right to be moderate on the question. Expecting him to come out and call Snowden a hero is ludicrous. Even asking the question "Is Snowden a hero" is

by dpweb 13y ago

Gates is right to be moderate on the question. Expecting him to come out and call Snowden a hero is ludicrous. Even asking the question "Is Snowden a hero" is bullshit. It's a oversimplification designed to generate a good headline. Hence this story's headline.. The country is incredibly polarized and its a negative thing for the USA. As a world leader and he is one, the responsible thing would be for him to be (at least publicly) moderate on the topic, and he happens to be right, we need the debate to figure out several very important issues about our democracy and what are the real threats to it. As far as tactics, civil disobedience (ala MLK or Gandhi) is definitely the way to go. As a tactic, it let's you get the moral high-ground. That is incredibly powerful. Throwing a brick through a window (or releasing state secrets), doesn't get you that, even if its justified. So I would agree with Gates, Snowden could have used a better tactic. Although, how do you get attention to the issue through the noise and lies of the media without doing something drastic. I don't know. It's a tough issue.

bsder 13y ago
> The country is incredibly polarized and its a negative thing for the USA. As a world leader and he is one, the responsible thing would be for him to be (at least publicly) moderate on the topic, and he happens to be right, we need the debate to figure out several very important issues about our democracy and what are the real threats to it. If you consider him to be a world leader it is also his responsibility to be a leader on topics that matter to things like the future of governance.
subsection1h 13y ago
> So I would agree with Gates, Snowden could have used a better tactic. Which tactics would have been better? And since it's been 10 full months since Snowden released the documents, you and Gates are in a much better position than Snowden had been to make an informed decision regarding which tactics would have been better. So I repeat, which tactics would have been better?
AutoCorrect 13y ago
Gates is towing the party line, he just wants to keep status quo. All the companies suing the government are doing it for the theatre "oh please Mr Government, you REALLY REALLY shouldn't take this data and use it", meanwhile they're salivating at the thought of actually collecting this for the government and tying it up with a nice neat bow. What civil disobedience could Snowden have done? Nothing that would have caused a discussion of this magnitude. And even with all that he's revealed, the government is still going on with business as usual. There will be no substantive change. It's really disgusting how few people care about this - "if you're doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide" - if I hear this one more time I'm going to puke on someone's shoes. To summarize: Gates is a government suckup and Snowden IS a hero.

by dpweb 13y ago

bsder 13y ago

> The country is incredibly polarized and its a negative thing for the USA. As a world leader and he is one, the responsible thing would be for him to be (at least publicly) moderate on the topic, and he happens to be right, we need the debate to figure out several very important issues about our democracy and what are the real threats to it. If you consider him to be a world leader it is also his responsibility to be a leader on topics that matter to things like the future of governance.

subsection1h 13y ago

> So I would agree with Gates, Snowden could have used a better tactic. Which tactics would have been better? And since it's been 10 full months since Snowden released the documents, you and Gates are in a much better position than Snowden had been to make an informed decision regarding which tactics would have been better. So I repeat, which tactics would have been better?

AutoCorrect 13y ago

Gates is towing the party line, he just wants to keep status quo. All the companies suing the government are doing it for the theatre "oh please Mr Government, you REALLY REALLY shouldn't take this data and use it", meanwhile they're salivating at the thought of actually collecting this for the government and tying it up with a nice neat bow. What civil disobedience could Snowden have done? Nothing that would have caused a discussion of this magnitude. And even with all that he's revealed, the government is still going on with business as usual. There will be no substantive change. It's really disgusting how few people care about this - "if you're doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide" - if I hear this one more time I'm going to puke on someone's shoes. To summarize: Gates is a government suckup and Snowden IS a hero.