Edward Snowden, Hero or Traitor?

[Husar]

He's delusional, because he had no idea what he was getting into. If he was a true whistleblower, he would have remained in the US, stood up for what he thought was right, and taken his lumps. Instead he ran off, placed himself under the control of a foreign power, and promtply spilled the beans on a bunch of other stuff that isn't targeting US citizens. Did he think the Chinese or Russians would protect him just out of the goodness of their hearts? Everywhere he goes, he will have to pay for asylum with info.

He'll be on the run for a while, but eventually he'll get nabbed. And at this point, I have zero sympathy for him.

What? You mean to be a true whistleblower and get your sympathies he should face his inevitable death penalty in home sweet home?
I'd rather make a deal with Putin than get sentenced to death in the US. And to say he didn't know what he was getting into is weird given that he made his way to safety in time. I guess quite a few countries would gladly host him even without any info just so the US won't get him. At worst Russia might exchange him for a KGB whistleblower who ran to the US. Of course if such an exchange happened, the US would send just as strong a message to whistleblowers from their enemies...

[drone]

He wouldn't have gotten the death penalty for the original leak. There was a pretty good chance his punishment would be fairly minimal, considering the publicity and nature of what he put out. Civil disobedience tends to lead to prison, that's part of the process. If he was a patriotic whistleblower worried about the rights of US citizens being violated, why spout on about hacked Chinese universities or the G8 thing, he's compromised and who knows what else he has given up. Now he's just a spy on the run and when he's caught he's going to get the hammer, the sooner the better. Staying in the US would have been a much better choice, the feds don't even have to prep a smear campaign, he's done it for them.

The number of countries that will host him for free is very small. The heat is not worth it, and it appears he wasn't specifically working for any one particular service, so no one owes him anything.

[drone]

Who are you to judge? The guy's a hero in my book, if for no other reason than that we now have a concrete problem to point to. I'm sure the next whistleblower will alert us to something even more unsettling than a domestic intelligence-gathering program worth more than the GDP of many Countries.

Well, the title of the thread asks us to judge (poll lacks Gah! option). He started out as a "whistleblower", although I was sceptical when he showed up in Hong Kong. Now he's just a rat spilling his guts for any chance to escape. The very definition of "compromised".

[drone]

When somebody comes up to you and tells you that the tires on your car are flat, do you call them a liar and kick them in the nuts? Or do you say thank you? The idea that submitting to a life as a political prisoner is what he is supposed to do is mind-boggling. Political prisoners in this country don't ever get out. They are ignored.

Your analogy is lacking. After he told you your tires were flat, he preceded to tell your boss you are a drunkard, and tell your wife about your mistress.

I go on about the abuses of the government a lot here, so I'm glad the issue is at least being discussed. But Snowden went about it in the absolute worst way, and has since shown that he either has no principles at all, or is completely naive. I'm beginning to wonder why he even bothered at all.

[Greyblades]

He's delusional, because he had no idea what he was getting into. If he was a true whistleblower, he would have remained in the US, stood up for what he thought was right, and taken his lumps. Instead he ran off, placed himself under the control of a foreign power, and promtply spilled the beans on a bunch of other stuff that isn't targeting US citizens. Did he think the Chinese or Russians would protect him just out of the goodness of their hearts? Everywhere he goes, he will have to pay for asylum with info.

He'll be on the run for a while, but eventually he'll get nabbed. And at this point, I have zero sympathy for him.

...Dude, that doesnt make him delusional, at best that makes him short sighted and maybe cowardly, which doesnt really discredit what he has done.

[Fisherking]

And why is that hard to understand?

When the people who are supposed to be carrying out the law are criminals working against your interest what makes it so wrong to share what they are doing with a rival gang?

Is that some how making it worse? Is it hard to understand the feeling of betrayal. We don’t know what he has seen and not shared with the public. Or what has not been reported.

People should be upset with the government yet this seem a matter of trying to kill the messenger.

[Xiahou]

Anyone remember this from Obama's campaign platform?

Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

Since he's been in office he's busied himself cracking down on them.

I don't think Snowden is a hero. But I don't think he is a traitor either. My personal, unfounded opinion is that he started out as a well-meaning whistleblower who quickly found himself a pawn in International power plays that are beyond his understanding. I think he's just completely in over his head and has been so since the beginning.

[Husar]

Your analogy is lacking. After he told you your tires were flat, he preceded to tell your boss you are a drunkard, and tell your wife about your mistress.

Well, the problem is that you drink too much and cheat on your wife. Those are problems you created and things you lied about.
It's really funny how everyone keeps blaming and badmouthing the chinese for hacking into servers in the US when the US are doing the same in China. What he did was pretty much dismantle your perceived moral superiority in certain things which now looks like hypocrisy.
On a whole I would still rate the US as more moral than China but it's like you're really trying hard to get there one whistleblower at a time.

[Montmorency]

It isn't easy to see why the state would get more upset over technical details leaked to rivals than generalities to global subjects?

[ICantSpellDawg]

You cannot be a traitor to the United States as long as you stand to uphold the inalienable rights protected or suggested under the Constitution. If the flag, the government, the people stand in the way of service to the idea of a free people, then they are the traitors. There is no allegiance to government necessary for being a patriot, only to the rights of individuals.

This isn't red team: bad, blue team: good anymore. Too many Americans live in this inbred 19th century concept of nationalism. The flag is meaningless without the individuals rights, the consent of the governed. The people condemning Snowden for exposing truth are the enemy. The people upholding and defending expanding secret courts, secret government to protect people from a bombing every once in a while are the enemy. Their threat and damage to a free people are greater than any realistic al-Qaeda threat.

[Husar]

It isn't easy to see why the state would get more upset over technical details leaked to rivals than generalities to global subjects?

The state, yes.

But the people, no.

If I want my country to be the good guys and advertise that all the time then I am upset about the state doing this in the first place.