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As a non-american it's kind of hilarious to have the american government, with all its powers, assets and resources figuratively yell at a single individual: "

As a non-american it's kind of hilarious to have the american government, with all its powers, assets and resources figuratively yell at a single individual: "Come out and fight like a man!" The fact that someone thought this kind of response is appropiate in any way means one of two things: 1. They think the american populace is irrelevant and they can flip them the bird unscathed. 2. They think they have substantial support by morons making up a majority of their populace who applaud that kind of response.

jgrowl 11y ago
Considering they were responding directly to people that signed the petition to have Snowden pardoned, I don't know how their intended reaction could be anything other than frustration and rage. It's like David and Goliath. Except where Goliath is the largest, most powerful military in the world with nukes and fighter jets. David is just a pale nerdy guy with a keyboard.
- zaphar 11y ago
  Didn't you know? These days the pale nerdy guy with a keyboard is almost more of a threat than a nation state with nukes. This whole internet and technology thing somehow got bigger than all of them when they weren't looking. All you have to do is look at the continued requests for a "golden" key, the constant attempts to get rid of net neutrality, the frequent attacks on various nations electronic infrastructure. Those guys with keyboards are scary as all get out to most of the governments out there.
meragrin 11y ago
The petition is specifically about pardoning Snowden. The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Snowden literally needs to come back, face the trials, and be convicted before the President could consider to pardon him. To me, the response is a have your cake and eat it too kind of response. They hint at the technicality of not being able to issue a pardon in a way they sound tough on people like Snowden. Rather than "come out and fight like a man", it is "security, security, security, Snowden hasn't been convicted yet, security, security, security".
- glitchdout 11y ago
  > The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Yes, he can. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/opinion/l-constitution-allows-pardons-before-conviction-590688.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/opinion/l-constitution-all...
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Not only can they, but perhaps the single most well-known Presidential pardon in history was of this kind: President Ford's blanket pardon of ex-President Nixon for any federal crimes he may have committed while President.

jgrowl 11y ago

Considering they were responding directly to people that signed the petition to have Snowden pardoned, I don't know how their intended reaction could be anything other than frustration and rage. It's like David and Goliath. Except where Goliath is the largest, most powerful military in the world with nukes and fighter jets. David is just a pale nerdy guy with a keyboard.

zaphar 11y ago
Didn't you know? These days the pale nerdy guy with a keyboard is almost more of a threat than a nation state with nukes. This whole internet and technology thing somehow got bigger than all of them when they weren't looking. All you have to do is look at the continued requests for a "golden" key, the constant attempts to get rid of net neutrality, the frequent attacks on various nations electronic infrastructure. Those guys with keyboards are scary as all get out to most of the governments out there.

meragrin 11y ago

The petition is specifically about pardoning Snowden. The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Snowden literally needs to come back, face the trials, and be convicted before the President could consider to pardon him. To me, the response is a have your cake and eat it too kind of response. They hint at the technicality of not being able to issue a pardon in a way they sound tough on people like Snowden. Rather than "come out and fight like a man", it is "security, security, security, Snowden hasn't been convicted yet, security, security, security".

glitchdout 11y ago
> The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Yes, he can. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/opinion/l-constitution-allows-pardons-before-conviction-590688.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/opinion/l-constitution-all...
dragonwriter 11y ago
> The President cannot pardon someone for a federal crime they have not been convicted of. Not only can they, but perhaps the single most well-known Presidential pardon in history was of this kind: President Ford's blanket pardon of ex-President Nixon for any federal crimes he may have committed while President.