Patriot & Hero Ed Snowden's Latest News Conference

[Serioususername]

Tell the world until Russian soldiers drag that sorry ass out of the white house in chains.

I hope you're just talking, because if you honestly want this to happen you're a damned idiot. Another nations soldiers touching an American President? I suppose people will finally get to see what real communism is like.

 

[SFC Ollie]

These Stateside programs were authorized by the FISA courts. I believe that this court does not have the authority under law to authorize the programs.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

Which still does not excuse Snowden......

 

[IlarMeilyr]

Snowden thinks no other nation spies?

Need some cheese, rat?

I'm not aware of how the citizens of other nations feel about their government's right to monitor their communications. But we Americans, at least those of us who are old enough to remember when our Constitution was respected by our government, have cause to believe that unless we are suspected of some qualifying criminal offense we are secure in our persons, papers and effects, meaning the privacy of our mail (including email) and telephone conversations.

But along comes a criminal sonofabitch like George W. Bush who perceives an event like the 9/11 attack as an opportunity to conduct an unlawful invasion on behalf of his family's friend, to loot our Treasury, to decimate the middle class, and to circumvent our Constitutional protections under the guise of national security expedience.

What other nations' governments do to their citizens is not relevant to this issue. This is America and we have a Constitution that protects us from such conduct by our government. Our government has no legal right to disregard the Fourth Amendment without first obtaining our permission to do so. But the government has done exactly that and unless something is done about it we can expect more of the same.

Regardless of what you, Bill Maher, and far too many other misguided American citizens seem to think of Edward Snowden, the fact is he has sacrificed his freedom and his future in calling attention to an extremely sinister practice being brazenly perpetrated against us by our government. And unless some selfish motive can be attributed to his action there is no valid reason to regard Edward Snowden as anything other than a modern day political hero who informed us of a seriously damaging offense against us and he did so at great cost to himself. So we have cause to be grateful, not critical of him.

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

Indeed.

And the permission they granted made sense.

To whatever extent the law is not being implemented as it is supposed to be, that may be due to willful neglect or insidious purpose by the present Executive OR it might be a by-product of inadequate oversight. It SHOULD be scrutinized by the Courts as well as by Congress on a damn regular basis.

Even so, I commend the law; and I would be happy to see it get truly fine-tuned and overseen. Checks and balances are not supposed to be mere empty words.

 

[Contumacious]

Nonsense.

The surveillance programs are both legal and Constitutional, no rights were ‘violated.’

Snowden didn’t ‘reveal’ anything but his own ignorance and naivete.

They may be Constitutional in a communist country, But not in ours,


.

Care to cite the article and/or precedent?

Getting to Know You
The Soviet Surveillance System

.

.

 

[candycorn]

Snowden thinks no other nation spies?

Need some cheese, rat?

Oh how the democrat party has fallen... even lower than the party of Bush... But hey, it's your party so don't ever stop mindlessly blindly defending!

I like how other nations spying on allies and ITS OWN CITIZENS makes it ok for Obama to do it. Golden, fuckin golden.

Remember you have an out here, I have disagreed with you, that makes me a red neck racist republican for pointing out your hypocrisy and or extremely low standards.

It doesn't make you a racist; just a dull socially unaware commentator who would do well to refrain from discussions that are beyond your depth.

Spying on your own countrymen goes back to the McCarthy era pretty much--black and white televisions, cigarette ads on TV, before the moon landings. That it escalated in technique with the times is a surprise to you?

I can see where to some who were surprised by this "revelation" that the Government is spying on us Snowden did the right thing...you were informed of something that likely 75% already knew about. Welcome to enlightenment. Then he started broadcasting our activities in spooking our enemies and our allies. Surely nobody thinks of this as "heroic" do they?

The fact is, the man is a traitor and deserves to spend a really long time in a really small cell. He knows that so he is looking for a lifeline to any nation willing to throw it out there to him; regardless of their politics which was his supposed reason for starting this crusade. Surely nobody thinks this person has ethics at this point, do they?

 

[editec]

Interesting to watch peour fellow posts, posters who normally do nothing but gripe about how government is a menace that they need their guns to protect themselves from, do a complete reversal when it comes to Snowden.

Seems to me if you distrust government so much that you are arming yourselves against it, then Snowden ought to be thought of as heroic.

However that is obviously not the case with many right wing partisans on this board.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

Interesting to watch peour fellow posts, posters who normally do nothing but gripe about how government is a menace that they need their guns to protect themselves from, do a complete reversal when it comes to Snowden.

Seems to me if you distrust government so much that you are arming yourselves against it, then Snowden ought to be thought of as heroic.

However that is obviously not the case with many right wing partisans on this board.

The hypocrisy is from the left.

The lolberals jump to defend a traitor like Snowden when it suits their purposes (for he allegedly revealed that the gubmint is supposedly doing something nefarious TO all of us);

but they simultaneously DEFEND President Obama who is, as per Snowden, the head guy "doing" it to us.

Here's a small dose or reality to help you out.

The USA PATRIOT Act is necessary and probably does save lives.

It entails a genuine RISK to some of our liberties (especially those associated with "privacy" interests). So the medicine is certainly distasteful and OUGHT to be monitored and scrutinized zealously. Not just when George W. Bush is the one using its tools, but when the Obemessiah is at the helm, too.

What is called for is a strict regimen of "checks and balances," which is another way of saying "monitor and oversee."

To the extent that's not happening, the law is dangerous and I would then oppose it not just when a dope like Obama is in Office, but regardless of who is in office. But when it IS happening (properly and zealously), I am content with the law even if it is Obama who presides over it.

 

[B. Kidd]

Interesting to watch peour fellow posts, posters who normally do nothing but gripe about how government is a menace that they need their guns to protect themselves from, do a complete reversal when it comes to Snowden.

Seems to me if you distrust government so much that you are arming yourselves against it, then Snowden ought to be thought of as heroic.

However that is obviously not the case with many right wing partisans on this board.

Actually, it appears that some supporters of both right and left wing camps believe Snowden a traitor, while some of both camps see him as a hero. Whatever one believes about Snowden, it does not lend itself to fit neatly into partisan stereotypes.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

Interesting to watch peour fellow posts, posters who normally do nothing but gripe about how government is a menace that they need their guns to protect themselves from, do a complete reversal when it comes to Snowden.

Seems to me if you distrust government so much that you are arming yourselves against it, then Snowden ought to be thought of as heroic.

However that is obviously not the case with many right wing partisans on this board.

Actually, it appears that some supporters of both right and left wing camps believe Snowden a traitor, while some of both camps see him as a hero. Whatever one believes about Snowden, it does not lend itself to fit neatly into partisan stereotypes.

^ true dat.

 

[LuckyDuck01!]

g5000, reduced to name calling.

 

[MikeK]

Snowden thinks no other nation spies?

Need some cheese, rat?

I'm not aware of how the citizens of other nations feel about their government's right to monitor their communications. But we Americans, at least those of us who are old enough to remember when our Constitution was respected by our government, have cause to believe that unless we are suspected of some qualifying criminal offense we are secure in our persons, papers and effects, meaning the privacy of our mail (including email) and telephone conversations.

But along comes a criminal sonofabitch like George W. Bush who perceives an event like the 9/11 attack as an opportunity to conduct an unlawful invasion on behalf of his family's friend, to loot our Treasury, to decimate the middle class, and to circumvent our Constitutional protections under the guise of national security expedience.

What other nations' governments do to their citizens is not relevant to this issue. This is America and we have a Constitution that protects us from such conduct by our government. Our government has no legal right to disregard the Fourth Amendment without first obtaining our permission to do so. But the government has done exactly that and unless something is done about it we can expect more of the same.

Regardless of what you, Bill Maher, and far too many other misguided American citizens seem to think of Edward Snowden, the fact is he has sacrificed his freedom and his future in calling attention to an extremely sinister practice being brazenly perpetrated against us by our government. And unless some selfish motive can be attributed to his action there is no valid reason to regard Edward Snowden as anything other than a modern day political hero who informed us of a seriously damaging offense against us and he did so at great cost to himself. So we have cause to be grateful, not critical of him.

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

My understanding of the permission granted to government re: unwarranted internal surveilance is it applies with cause to specifically targeted individuals and is not an arbitrary, unconstrained practice. President Obama has in fact assured us via televised commentary that "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls."
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVY3mq6B-5w]Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls' - YouTube[/ame]
Now we learn that was a boldface lie, revealing his contempt for the rights of those who voted for him and who trusted him.

Why should Snowden be persecuted for exposing this deception? Do we have a government of, for, and by the People? Or are we subjects of an autonomous monarchy that does as it pleases?

 

[SFC Ollie]

I'm not aware of how the citizens of other nations feel about their government's right to monitor their communications. But we Americans, at least those of us who are old enough to remember when our Constitution was respected by our government, have cause to believe that unless we are suspected of some qualifying criminal offense we are secure in our persons, papers and effects, meaning the privacy of our mail (including email) and telephone conversations.

But along comes a criminal sonofabitch like George W. Bush who perceives an event like the 9/11 attack as an opportunity to conduct an unlawful invasion on behalf of his family's friend, to loot our Treasury, to decimate the middle class, and to circumvent our Constitutional protections under the guise of national security expedience.

What other nations' governments do to their citizens is not relevant to this issue. This is America and we have a Constitution that protects us from such conduct by our government. Our government has no legal right to disregard the Fourth Amendment without first obtaining our permission to do so. But the government has done exactly that and unless something is done about it we can expect more of the same.

Regardless of what you, Bill Maher, and far too many other misguided American citizens seem to think of Edward Snowden, the fact is he has sacrificed his freedom and his future in calling attention to an extremely sinister practice being brazenly perpetrated against us by our government. And unless some selfish motive can be attributed to his action there is no valid reason to regard Edward Snowden as anything other than a modern day political hero who informed us of a seriously damaging offense against us and he did so at great cost to himself. So we have cause to be grateful, not critical of him.

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

My understanding of the permission granted to government re: unwarranted internal surveilance is it applies with cause to specifically targeted individuals and is not an arbitrary, unconstrained practice. President Obama has in fact assured us via televised commentary that "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls."
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVY3mq6B-5w]Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls' - YouTube[/ame]
Now we learn that was a boldface lie, revealing his contempt for the rights of those who voted for him and who trusted him.

Why should Snowden be persecuted for exposing this deception? Do we have a government of, for, and by the People? Or are we subjects of an autonomous monarchy that does as it pleases?

Are you surprised that Obama lies?

And even if you give Snowden a pass for giving up the abuse of the Pat Act here at home, how can you not be pissed about him giving up programs about what we were doing in other countries?

 

[numan]

"Snowden didn’t ‘reveal’ anything"

he is not a traitor. he did not betray your beloved government

Yes -- moreover, why should a "free American" not be able to "betray your beloved government"?

You totalitarian goons who demand lock-step obediance to an overwhelming, oppressive bureaucracy, who want people who don't satisfy your scrupulous standards of dedication to government regulation to be put against a wall and shot, without trial -- it is you whom an unbiased observer might regard as betrayers of America.

A free people should always be free to "betray" an evil and oppressive government.

Moreover, even the Insurrectionary Terrorists who created the United States Constitution were very careful to circumscribe severely the requirements to be charged with treason!

Even those low-life traitors to their legitimate government were superior in character to present-day totalitarian goons who demand that minor infractions of government control be regarded as treason.

What a sorry country the United States has become!!

.

 

[IlarMeilyr]

"Snowden didn’t ‘reveal’ anything"

he is not a traitor. he did not betray your beloved government

Yes -- moreover, why should a "free American" not be able to "betray your beloved government"?

You totalitarian goons who demand lock-step obediance to an overwhelming, oppressive bureaucracy, who want people who don't satisfy your scrupulous standards of dedication to government regulation to be put against a wall and shot, without trial -- it is you whom an unbiased observer might regard as betrayers of America.

A free people should always be free to "betray" an evil and oppressive government.

Moreover, even the Insurrectionary Terrorists who created the United States Constitution were very careful to circumscribe severely the requirements to be charged with treason!

Even those low-life traitors to their legitimate government were superior in character to present-day totalitarian goons who demand that minor infractions of government control be regarded as treason.

What a sorry country the United States has become!!

.

A non traitor answers the idiot, noman, who asks a ridiculous "question."

Freedom, you silly petty ignorant dishonest twit does NOT mean that one is unbounded. You are free to walk in the park and make your living as you are best able if you can get some employer to give you a job. You are free to read Pravda and take it as truth.

That does not mean you are free to violate the law and commit felonies. Liberty and license are different things, you moron.

And our government is not oppressive just because a dipshit like you happens to harbor silly opposing views on how they decide to go about the business of international relations and domestic policy-making and economics. That whole representative form of government really throws twits like you for a loop.

What a sorry pathetic excuse for a member of this board you are, no man. You truly are no man.

,

 

[Stashman]

Snowden has yet to release ANY info that has not already been previously released. To me a traitor is someone that looks the other way when his government commits crimes against its citizens and NOT bring it to light.

Show me ANYTHING in our constitution that allows our government to spy on it's citizens. The patriot act itself goes against our constitution and therefore nothing, not even a ruling by the SCOTUS makes it legal.

 

[MikeK]

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

My understanding of the permission granted to government re: unwarranted internal surveilance is it applies with cause to specifically targeted individuals and is not an arbitrary, unconstrained practice. President Obama has in fact assured us via televised commentary that "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls."
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVY3mq6B-5w]Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls' - YouTube[/ame]
Now we learn that was a boldface lie, revealing his contempt for the rights of those who voted for him and who trusted him.

Why should Snowden be persecuted for exposing this deception? Do we have a government of, for, and by the People? Or are we subjects of an autonomous monarchy that does as it pleases?

Are you surprised that Obama lies?

I understand it is necessary for the Executive to lie when it is expedient and serves the interests of the Nation and its People. In this specific example his lie is opposed to the interests of the People because he cannot show that such arbitrary surveillance activity is indispensably necessary and effective in its intended purpose.

This kind of laissez-faire monitoring of citizens' privacy has a sinister political potential as exemplified by the outing of Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer. How were their relatively inconsequential indiscretions discovered? While you might think these two examples deserved to be exposed give some thought to the potential of the means by which it was accomplished and how it can be used to blackmail and/or prevail over officials and politicians. It is a dangerous capability and should not be permitted.

Any actual monitoring of private communications must, as Obama deceitfully assured us it was, be authorized by warrant -- or be subject to criminal sanctions.

The Fourth Amendment must be observed and honored by Government as well as the citizenry!

To answer your question; I was not as surprised as I might have been during his first year in Office. But I've become increasingly aware that Obama is every bit as duplicitous and self-serving as a Broadway pimp.

And even if you give Snowden a pass for giving up the abuse of the Pat Act here at home, how can you not be pissed about him giving up programs about what we were doing in other countries?

What information? And what countries? I need specifics to offer a substantive response.

 

[numan]

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

Those disgusting, evil, corrupt "congress critters" do not represent me!!

Those sub-human quislings are bought and sold. I do not owe loyalty to anything they do!!

They are the ones who should be in prison -- not Snowden!!

.

 

[hortysir]

They may be Constitutional in a communist country, But not in ours,


.

Care to cite the article and/or precedent?

Getting to Know You
The Soviet Surveillance System

.

.

Sorry.
I meant the part of the COTUS that's in violation

 

[hortysir]

We have a representative style government.
Our congress critters represent us.
They gave permission for us

Those disgusting, evil, corrupt "congress critters" do not represent me!!

Those sub-human quislings are bought and sold. I do not owe loyalty to anything they do!!

They are the ones who should be in prison -- not Snowden!!

.

Quit re-electing them, then

 

[deltex1]

I can see a scenario where Snowden will be joined by Zimmerman in Venezuela...