I'd have much more respect for him if he'd stayed in the US and accepted the attendant risks acting on his ideals.
On Friday, November 1, 2013, Steve Smith wrote: > The whole thing (Snowden's disclosures and the fallout from it) is riddled > with half-truths and misplaced strong rhetoric... I mean the whole > situation, not just Snowden's statements... his are perhaps the *least* > egregious but egregious nonetheless. > > He tries to paint his patently *illegal acts* (disclosing classified > information) as "political speech". I am very sympathetic with his > motives and grant him the moral right/unction to do what he did, but not > because doing so was not technically illegal. What he did was technically > illegal. In fact, that is what makes it so powerful... he may have done > "the very right thing" against the rule of law and with the threat of dire > consequences. It is up to those who the law represents (we the citizens of > the US) to respond by fitting his acts into the framework of our collective > morality as well as our laws. The challenge is either how to *pardon* his > illegal acts based on their presumed "greater good" or to find a way to > change the laws so that there *is* a way for him to have "done the right > thing" without breaking the law and bringing down the wrath of the US > Security apparatus. > > On the other side, (roughly the "side" presented by officials of the US > gov't right up to President Obama) the rhetoric is unforgiving. It does not > acknowledge even the possibility that Snowden's "outside the law" acts were > anything but traitorous cowardy. I think to most, this is patently not > true. While the allegations that Snowden might have acted from egotistical > and naive motives, I don't think many really can believe that he was > honestly trying to harm the US citizenry. Quite the opposite, even if he > might have been misguided (and I don't concede he was), he was *trying* to > help the US citizenry, specifically against rogue behaviour by our > government. > > I am thankful that the world leaders, the world population including much > of the US, have stood up in shock and outrage in response to the > revelations, no matter how they came about. While it may be obvious that > any security/intelligence apparatus *wants* total information awareness > about everyone, friend or foe, and that it is natural for them to believe > that they can do their jobs more effectively, it is NOT obvious that the > tradeoff is worth it. It is also not obvious in the least that just > because such organizations want and seek that kind of power, that they are > granted that level of power by our laws. Even the Patriot Act and FISA > didn't expand their powers that entirely and it seems clear to me that the > public debate *will* lead to severe curtailment even of those laws and > possibly others which may represent "loopholes" in privacy. > > I'm glad Snowden did what he did, roughly the way he did it. I may be > proven wrong, but he is likely to go down as a martyr if not a hero and the > US and the world will likely be a better place for his actions. He may > have to suffer for his actions, but that is the definition of "hope" that I > subscribe to: "doing the right thing, whether you think it will turn out > well or not". > > A high ranking German politician has spoken with Edward Snowden in >>> Moscow. Here is the letter he brought back: >>> http://www.spiegel.de/media/**media-32616.pdf<http://www.spiegel.de/media/media-32616.pdf> >>> >> >> "I am confident that with the support of the international community, the >> government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior." >> >> This is one of: rhetorical, hopelessly optimistic, or disingenuous ... or >> perhaps some combination of the three. I got this in the mail this morning: >> >> Secretary of State Kerry: Reinstate Edward Snowden’s passport! >> http://act.rootsaction.org/p/**dia/action3/common/public/?** >> action_KEY=8711<http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8711> >> >> But I'm having trouble imagining that he'll ever get his passport back or >> be treated as anything other than a traitor here. >> >> >> ==============================**============================== >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> to unsubscribe >> http://redfish.com/mailman/**listinfo/friam_redfish.com<http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> >> >> > > ==============================**============================== > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe > http://redfish.com/mailman/**listinfo/friam_redfish.com<http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> > -- The information contained in this transmission may contain privileged and confidential information. 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