Ed Snowden! THANK YOU for Blowing the Whistle on This Corrupt Administration

[dblack]

I think it's less of an "Obama" problem and more of a "President" problem. It seems that America believes it's the authority on the world, and that all other countries better obey her. That rubs other countries the wrong way. Maybe it's true that Obama is incompetent. Maybe not. I'd love to know what Bush or Romney would have done instead.

The element most are missing here is that the biggest reason they feel empowered blow off Obama's demands is because they know how this plays with the American people. They know many of us are cheering for Snowden, happy that he's raised the issue of our out-of-control surveillance state - even if the press is intent on ignoring it. And they know that heavy handed efforts on the part of the Obama administration to apprehend Snowden will not play well with the US electorate. And they know Obama won't risk further attention being drawn to the police state he has maintain (and arguably, expanded).

And the most galling thing is that Snowden, NOT the NSA, is being demonized. It's reminiscent of punishing the guy who leaked a politician's scandal, and not the politician himself. The NSA has been violating the 4th ammendment, and now they want to silence Snowden to keep him from revealing any more of their misdeeds. I've been a fan of FOX News, but shame on them for not being fair and balanced on this issue (EXCEPT Eric Bolling and Judge Napolitano).

Exactly. Our press has been missing-in-action since 9/11, manipulated by our leaders, and distracted by their own short attention span. And the voters are even worse, apathetic and short-sighted in the extreme.


Watching the partisans (on both sides) turning this into some ridiculous pissing match, rather than joining together to demand that our Constitution be restored - well, it's depressing as all hell. I can't help but see it as indicative of our inevitable decline as a worthwhile liberal democracy.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Yanno..................when Snowden first popped up on the radar, I was willing to give him a fair hearing.

Matter of fact, there were times in the first week of his fame, that I actually thought he may have had something worth saying.

After his trip to China, and the subsequent trip to Russia, I started to question his motives.

Today? I think he's just another whore looking for another 15 min of fame.

 

[dblack]

Yanno..................when Snowden first popped up on the radar, I was willing to give him a fair hearing.

Matter of fact, there were times in the first week of his fame, that I actually thought he may have had something worth saying.

After his trip to China, and the subsequent trip to Russia, I started to question his motives.

Today? I think he's just another whore looking for another 15 min of fame.

I'm not really concerned with Snowden; his motives or his predicament. I am concerned about the fact that we now live under a secret surveillance regime that monitors our private communications - not because they suspect a crime has been committed, or is being planned, but just to keep an eye on us. Does that bother you? What should we do about that?

 

[LoneLaugher]

Yanno..................when Snowden first popped up on the radar, I was willing to give him a fair hearing.

Matter of fact, there were times in the first week of his fame, that I actually thought he may have had something worth saying.

After his trip to China, and the subsequent trip to Russia, I started to question his motives.

Today? I think he's just another whore looking for another 15 min of fame.

I'm not really concerned with Snowden; his motives or his predicament. I am concerned about the fact that we now live under a secret surveillance regime that monitors our private communications - not because they suspect a crime has been committed, or is being planned, but just to keep an eye on us. Does that bother you? What should we do about that?

If that were true.....we'd have to do something drastic......like vote for representatives who would end the practice.

 

[editec]

Ed Snowden! THANK YOU for Blowing the Whistle on This Corrupt Administration

Jut wondering...does the above title suggest that you think this invasion of our privacy corruption just started under Obama?

Seems to me that we've been reading about that invasion of our privacy for at least the last ten years.

Well, I've been reading about it, at least.

Is this a revelation to you?

 

[dblack]

I'm not really concerned with Snowden; his motives or his predicament. I am concerned about the fact that we now live under a secret surveillance regime that monitors our private communications - not because they suspect a crime has been committed, or is being planned, but just to keep an eye on us. Does that bother you? What should we do about that?

If that were true...

Are you suggesting it's not?

The administration is not disputing it. They just claim it's legal and necessary. Are you ready to set aside partisan concerns and join those of us fighting this crap?

 

[ABikerSailor]

Ed Snowden! THANK YOU for Blowing the Whistle on This Corrupt Administration

Jut wondering...does the above title suggest that you think this invasion of our privacy corruption just started under Obama?

Seems to me that we've been reading about that invasion of our privacy for at least the last ten years.

Well, I've been reading about it, at least.

Is this a revelation to you?

You're right.....................they've known it's been happening for a while, even before Obama.

But............................you can't really expect tea baggers to scream "BOOSH" can you?

 

[Vikrant]

Emerging allegations that America's National Security Agency bugged and hacked European Union offices stoked tension Sunday between U.S. and European officials, with German prosecutors announcing they are probing the claims.
The allegations were carried in a report by the German magazine Der Spiegel. They are the latest claims to surface regarding NSA surveillance activity, as on-the-lam leaker Edward Snowden feeds a series of sensitive documents to the media. Der Spiegel did not specifically say how it obtained the information.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz, in response, demanded a clarification from the NSA about the alleged program.
"I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices," Schulz said in a statement, according to The Wall Street Journal. "If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations."
German federal prosecutors also said they are looking into the reports. The Federal Prosecutors' Office said in a statement Sunday that it was probing the claims so as to "achieve a reliable factual basis" before considering whether a formal investigation was warranted.
It also said private citizens were likely to file criminal complaints on the matter.
A representative with the NSA referred questions on the matter to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which has not yet commented on the report.
But Michael Hayden, the former director of both the NSA and CIA, said Sunday that European officials should look in the mirror before criticizing the U.S.
"Any European who wants to go out and rend their garments with regard to international espionage should look first and find out what their own governments are doing," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Hayden noted he's been out of the agency for years and said he didn't know the accuracy of the Der Spiegel report, nor could he confirm or deny it if he did.
But he said "the United States does conduct espionage," and that the Fourth Amendment right to privacy "is not an international treaty."
Der Spiegel reported that the NSA appears to have installed bugs in an EU building in Washington, D.C., as well as infiltrated their computer network. According to the report, this let U.S. officials monitor discussions and emails.
U.S. officials have warned that the string of NSA leaks are damaging to national security.
Snowden is believed to still be at the Moscow airport. Russian officials so far have refused to expel him to the U.S., claiming he is in a transit zone and not technically in their hands.
Meanwhile, Vice President Biden on Friday called Ecuador's president to urge the country to reject a request by Snowden for asylum in that country.


Read more: Allegations of NSA bugging stir tension with European allies | Fox News

 

[Wake]

As much as I like some of the tenets of the Tea Party, it's ironic to see these same people turn against Edward Snowden because he revealed the NSA was breaking the 4th ammendment of their precious Constitution. Similarly, it's also intirguing how both some on the Right, the Left, and certain libertarians like Rand Paul support him. People want transparency, yet when they get a cold slap of transparency in the face from Snowden, well, it's time to get out the pitchforks. These people who want transparency and want to know when our government is lying to us—who attack Snowden for doing just that—don't truly want transparency in the first place.

Sucks how we have to turn to Wikileaks for true transparency, instead of our own government.

 

[dblack]

As much as I like some of the tenets of the Tea Party, it's ironic to see these same people turn against Edward Snowden because he revealed the NSA was breaking the 4th ammendment of their precious Constitution. Similarly, it's also intirguing how both some on the Right, the Left, and certain libertarians like Rand Paul support him. People want transparency, yet when they get a cold slap of transparency in the face from Snowden, well, it's time to get out the pitchforks. These people who want transparency and want to know when our government is lying to us—who attack Snowden for doing just that—don't truly want transparency in the first place.

Sucks how we have to turn to Wikileaks for true transparency, instead of our own government.

Well said. I find it less 'ironic', and more 'revealing' that so many of the Tea Party show their true colors when it comes to these kinds of issues. Most of them, in my view, are more conservative than they are libertarian, and not as far removed from the neo-cons as they'd like us to believe.

 

[Wake]

Well said. I find it less 'ironic', and more 'revealing' that so many of the Tea Party show their true colors when it comes to these kinds of issues. Most of them, in my view, are more conservative than they are libertarian, and not as far removed from the neo-cons as they'd like us to believe.

I'm not sure of that, but you might be on to something there.

After this debacle I'll always look at the Tea Party in a different light.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Interesting...................................

We give up our locations to car companies in the hopes of making us "safe".

We give up our locations on cell phones so that our fellow humans (who we like) can locate us and see where we are at.

We give up our preferences of what we like just so that we can get discounts at our favorite store (which has already figured out what you like because of what you posted), and even can suggest something you may like based on what you post on the 'net.

Yet.......................you bitch about the government knowing those same things about you?

Sorry...........................but I'd rather have the government know more about me than what Wal-Mart or Macy's does.

At least, the government can only get my money via the IRS and taxes......................the corporate overlords can get it because they know the things that I like.

 

[dblack]

Interesting...................................

We give up our locations to car companies in the hopes of making us "safe".

We give up our locations on cell phones so that our fellow humans (who we like) can locate us and see where we are at.

We give up our preferences of what we like just so that we can get discounts at our favorite store (which has already figured out what you like because of what you posted), and even can suggest something you may like based on what you post on the 'net.

Yet.......................you bitch about the government knowing those same things about you?

Sorry...........................but I'd rather have the government know more about me than what Wal-Mart or Macy's does.

At least, the government can only get my money via the IRS and taxes......................the corporate overlords can get it because they know the things that I like.

Because Wal-Mart or Macy's can't put a bag over your head and send you to Gauntanamo. Not yet anyway.

 

[asterism]

Interesting...................................

We give up our locations to car companies in the hopes of making us "safe".

We give up our locations on cell phones so that our fellow humans (who we like) can locate us and see where we are at.

We give up our preferences of what we like just so that we can get discounts at our favorite store (which has already figured out what you like because of what you posted), and even can suggest something you may like based on what you post on the 'net.

Yet.......................you bitch about the government knowing those same things about you?

Sorry...........................but I'd rather have the government know more about me than what Wal-Mart or Macy's does.

At least, the government can only get my money via the IRS and taxes......................the corporate overlords can get it because they know the things that I like.

Yes and no.

We can choose to not share that data with grocery stores, banks, friends, etc.

Apparently we cannot choose to share this information with the government. Snowden was wrong to leak this information but the domestic information gathering must be stopped. There simply aren't enough rewards to balance the risk of corrupt government types getting this information.

 

[Chuckt]

Apparently we cannot choose to share this information with the government. Snowden was wrong to leak this information but the domestic information gathering must be stopped. There simply aren't enough rewards to balance the risk of corrupt government types getting this information.

We're actually more likely to get hit by lighting than be targets of terrorism.

The problem is that it has now become a business and the business owners don't want it to stop whether you are safer or not. Business owners give money to politicians and now there is a financial incentive to make them search you.

30 years ago, there were no salesmen calling my house and today there are tons of telemarketers calling my house and I called my state representative and her person said it was perfectly legal for telemarketers to call me. It is because you have given your rights up to privacy that you have more telemarketers than friends calling.

 

[depotoo]

Apparently we cannot choose to share this information with the government. Snowden was wrong to leak this information but the domestic information gathering must be stopped. There simply aren't enough rewards to balance the risk of corrupt government types getting this information.

We're actually more likely to get hit by lighting than be targets of terrorism.

The problem is that it has now become a business and the business owners don't want it to stop whether you are safer or not. Business owners give money to politicians and now there is a financial incentive to make them search you.

30 years ago, there were no salesmen calling my house and today there are tons of telemarketers calling my house and I called my state representative and her person said it was perfectly legal for telemarketers to call me. It is because you have given your rights up to privacy that you have more telemarketers than friends calling.

only the political party you are a member of can call you and those businesses you have done business with and signed anything telling them they can contact you with offers, unless you haven't signed up for the do not call list. All others cannot contact you if you sign up
https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

[Caroljo]

do not call list doesn't work so well....I still get calls! I just don't answer any that I don't know who it is, if it's important they can leave a message.

 

[dblack]

www.youtube.com/embed/vD64pIsVNIY