> the time that had passed since 9/11. The difference between when Binney & Drake blew the whistle and Snowden doing the same is that Snowden brought evidence.

> the time that had passed since 9/11. The difference between when Binney & Drake blew the whistle and Snowden doing the same is that Snowden brought evidence. Binney & Drake were easily dismissed and buried by the media and the government because it was mostly their word against the government's word. The public general distrusts any claim that the government might not be the constitution-following, freedom-creating ideal they were taught in school. Usually, accusations of corruption in a government agency are dismissed as "conspiracy theories" even when overwhelming evidence is available, due to a faith that "it can't happen here"[1]. You see similar faith in how the public usually accepts the police at their word, even in ridiculous circumstances as we've seen with some of the recent high-profile police-brutality/murder incidents. Combine this paranoia style[2] of distrust with the usual spy-agency secrecy and no evidence the public could see - Binney & Drake never had a chance. It was a lot harder to ignore and dismiss the accusations when the Guardian started publishing the powerpoint slides that were stamped "TOP SECRET//SI//ORCON//NOFORN". [1] obZappa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdrAHn_LGo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdrAHn_LGo [2] http://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/ http://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-ame...