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Snowden Joins Twitter, Follows NSA
wiredmikey writes: Edward Snowden joined Twitter Tuesday, picking up more than a quarter of a million followers on the social network in just over two hours. Snowden followed a single Twitter account: the U.S. National Security Agency, from which he stole electronic documents revealing the agency's secret surveillance programs. "Can you hear me now?" he asked in his first tweet, which was quickly resent by Twitter users tens of thousands of times. In his second, Snowden noted the recent news about the planet Mars and then quipped about the difficulty he had finding asylum after the U.S. government fingered him as the source of the NSA leaks. "And now we have water on Mars!" he wrote. "Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend."
Khm, I wonder, why he is not following Kremlin's accounts. Just to, you know, hold Putin accountable...
Just because Russia is worse doesn't mean America isn't bad. If you really want to speak out against the abuses of the Medici, you're going to need the protection of the Borgias first. Hypocritical? Sure. But I'm afraid that's just how Renaissance Italy works.
He was just a low/mid-level analyst who leaked a bunch of shit. Why are people treating him like any sort of authority on anything?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
According to most, Snowden did his patriotic duty. You don't even have the sack to post with a registered account, yet you're going to be judge jury and executioner for this man? If even a small fraction of the world had half the courage of this man our collective western society would be much better. Like it used to be.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
He's basically just a pawn at this point. Putin keeps him around because it embarrasses the US Government. He'll probably find himself extradited in a heartbeat if Putin can get something valuable in trade. I'm also guessing he's not exactly a prisoner, but that he would find it to be very difficult to leave Russia if he wanted to. You know, pawn stuff.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
> Khm, I wonder, why he is not following Kremlin's accounts.
He gave up his cushy life in paradise - literally paradise - for the freedom of his country and the world. Now you expect him to risk his only refuge to tell us all what we already know? What have you done for the world, chickenhawk?
We know the Russian government is evil, spies on its citizens. We know. Pointing it out continually does not diminish the Orwellian nightmare that the U.S. government has become, or diminish the heroism that was required for Snowden to ever accomplish what he did.
I know you don't care because you're shills, I'm only letting you know that your ad hominem arguments are 100% ineffective and you should move on to something better. Thanks.
How do you illegally expose illegal practices, you goddam nattering anonymous tool?
Utterly unfounded crap. The actual reason he can't leave is that he would be intercepted extralegally by U.S. agents acting on behalf of an illegitimate rogue government violating its own goddam Constitution.
oh give ma damn break
the CIA director lies to congress, and orders hackers to infiltrate senate intelligence committee computers... and Snowden's the Criminal ?
who do you think is celebrating with our tax dollars, lying about it and getting away with it ?
pathetic.
Not a problem for him. He's not an employee or agent of the Russian government, or doing anything that annoys them. In fact, having him there basically lets Putin thumb his nose at the US, so he's welcome there.
Russia's basically one of those places where you're probably fairly safe, as long as you don't get on the wrong side of anyone who's too powerful.
Can I point out that the NSA is only doing what the current administration tells them to do and that it is President Obama that has not pardoned him and is pushing for his arrest?
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Of course, he is welcome there — as long as he cooperates with the nose-thumbing and, as you put it, does not annoy Putin (such as, for example, by saying something supportive of Ukraine).
That non-committal statement is true about any country, including even North Korea.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Sometimes breaking the law is the right thing to do. And, in many of those cases, we pardon the law-breaker.
The NSA is a tool which can, and has been, used for bad as well as good. They have too much power and too little public accountability. A rifle is similarly a tool. In the right hands it can put food on the table and defend a family. In the wrong hands it can murder and maim innocent people. Here are a few highlights that we know happen, and we have no evidence that anything has changed since the Snowden leaks.
NSA data used in parallel construction allowing fabrication of data to arrest people. Data shared with all levels of law enforcement including state, city, county.
NSA data used to squash dissent and opinions. You know better than cops always being in force exactly where needed to disperse people well before a gathering.
NSA data used to mark US citizens as dangerous because they support the wrong party or organization. See Ron Paul followers in numerous States, and more recently the IRS targeting of certain groups. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now from what we know, there is plenty we can logically speculate. Think bigger, because the people in power do.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
The far more apt comparison would be of Beria (responsible for millions dead) vs. McCarthy (responsible for dozens laid off). Quantity transcending into quality and all that...
Good point, Putin just kills individuals. The U.S. government destroys whole countries.
I don't understand this argument. It sounds a lot like the bullshit that flows from the mouths of John Kerry about it. No matter what Russia does or does not do to its people, that in no way makes the NSA's behavior lessor or more virtuous. We have a Constitution, we have a body of Legal precedent that establishes protections and we have a common largely shared understanding among the public of what those protections mean and are; the NSA just ignores them and does what it wants anyway.
We are loosing our government by and FOR the people in drips and drabs and the NSA's behavior is a drop in that bucket. Snowden could have done nothing, he could have done his 'job' and added to the problem, or he could do what he did even though it amounts to trying to empty the bucket with a tea spoon. He chose to start bailing at great personal cost to himself. I can only wish I had the balls to do that.
Snowden will very likely never by able to go home again. He will never be truly free again, comfortable maybe but greatly constrained in what he can say and do. He needs the protection of Putin who is purely mercenary. Snowden will always be more constrained than he would have been had he done nothing to shelter us from the infringements that were silently taking place against our liberties.
AND THAT ISN"T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU! No he hast to be martyr as well for some reason. He does not have a lot of choices, there are not many places or people he can go to with the ability to protect him, let alone the desire or will. Putin is the best of bad choices probably. Will I be disappointed if Snowden starts telling us what a standup guy Vladimir is and how Russia is a shining example of freedom and democracy; yes I would. I will however accept his silence on the matter, as hypercritical. He needs a place to stay, you don't insult the master of the manor when you are guest. Russia's problems are not Snowden's fight, that is fight for the citizens of Russia. Snowden fought for freedom in his country, my country, likely your country. I think 'we' owe him gratitude!
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Snowden traded the US for Russia.
You make it sound like Snowden traded in his used car. NO; he landed in Russia after being denied asylum in Hong Kong. And his asylum there is supposedly temporary, although I'm sure it tickles Putin no end to have him there. As for money in our political system, I certainly agree with you, I'm kind of warming up to this notion of publicly funding campaigns to keep special interests at bay (somewhat), but Snowden's alarums are certainly valid, earnest, and shocking, imo.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Why do you fucks keep repeating this tired and debunked talking point? Snowden never chose Russia as his destination. The United States revoked his passport while he was in transit, thus stranding him there.
Maybe you should ask why the United States blundered so terribly to allow Snowden to become a chess piece for Putin that allows him to so brazenly thumb his nose at the US. But you won't ask this, and nobody else who repeats these talking points ever asks this, because it correctly assigns blame where it belongs: the US officials who stranded him there.