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Why isnt Snowden viewed as a hero

fireflame

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,275
From my point of view, what Snowden was selfless and good, and he is the kind of person I would praise and defend if I visited the USA. But for many people, it seems he is a traitor that went to the enemy.I am french, and yet, even if someone did what he did, but in my country, I would not blame that person. Is it a matter of culture?
 
Masoyama

Masoyama

Attempted to circumvent a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,648
There is a whole movie about him, where he is portrayed like a Hollywood type hero.
 
EnronERA

EnronERA

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,058
I think running to the Chinese and then the Russians with a treasure trove of NSA and CIA secrets pretty much means you are a traitor
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,018
The China and Russia thing, but also I think he gets mentally paired up with Assange a lot, and Assange is a lot harder to defend.
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,890
He should be. I would've run too knowing I'm going to jail for the rest of my life. Fuck that. What he did needed to be done. Could he have been more tactful? Sure. But I think he released the info in a more or less as responsible a way as possible.
 
Kernel

Kernel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,886
fireflame said:
But he defended individual freedom and pointed out the impact of modern technology on our lives, and how mere citizen can be spied.Maybehecouldnt go to Europe because Europe would have cooperated to arrest him.
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And now he sits around at Putin's beck and call just like a certain orange President.
 
signal

signal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
40,197
I wonder what would have happened if he remained in jail in the US. An eventual pardon?
 
Pandaman

Pandaman

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,710
Most people either think he's a wikileaks guy or believe conspiracy theories about him feeding information to China or Russia.
 
Smurf

Smurf

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,584
lol@ the notion that he should've stayed and gone to jail, don't wanna even imagine other things that would've been done to him, otherwise he is a coward
 
TJG662

TJG662

Member
Oct 25, 2017
625
California
He could have been. If he had been willing to get arrested and stand for what he believed in. But he ran to people who are far worse and do worse things. I'm glad he shed light on what was going on but he should not have ran.
 
FeliciaFelix

FeliciaFelix

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,778
He started out as America's bitch and is now Russia's bitch. That isn't a promotion, that's a lateral move.
 
EnronERA

EnronERA

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,058
fireflame said:
It is not easy to face jail time;, and in USA jails are awful and scary? Are we also sure he would not have been assassinated?
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LOL. The US doesn't even assassinate spies who fucking steal nuclear secrets and sell them to the israelis, chinese, or russians. Instead we throw them in a SuperMax in Colorado for the rest of their lives.

If we aren't killing those guys, we aren't gonna kill Snowden. Come on now.
 

Deleted member 862

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,646
judging by the start of this thread it appears people have no idea what he actually did so that's probably part of it.
 
EnronERA

EnronERA

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,058
BLEEN said:
What? He literally released all the info for the benefit of the American public.
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If you think he released EVERYTHING that he had, i have a fucking bridge to sell you. Why do you think he's been able to live under the protection of the Russians? Why do you think the Chinese let him pass right on through? He traded something.
 
Cranster

Cranster

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,788
Didn't he tweet something about Hilary being a worse candidate than Trump because she was an Establishment candidate? He may have had good intentions, but he should have kept his mouth shut on general politics.
 

Deleted member 78

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
660
EnronERA said:
LOL. The US doesn't even assassinate spies who fucking steal nuclear secrets and sell them to the israelis, chinese, or russians. Instead we throw them in a SuperMax in Colorado for the rest of their lives.

If we aren't killing those guys, we aren't gonna kill Snowden. Come on now.
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And yet Obama used drones to murder 16 year old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki followed by Trump using brave servicemen to murder his 8-year-old sister Nawar Al-Awlaki.
 
Vilix

Vilix

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,055
Texas
fireflame said:
It is not easy to face jail time;, and in USA jails are awful and scary? Are we also sure he would not have been assassinated?
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I just saw a documentary on Russian prisons. Trust me, America prison is like vacationing in the Caribbean compared to other countries prisons.

As far as being assassinated. No, this isn't the movies. And he's not a former Russian agent.
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,890
EnronERA said:
If you think he released EVERYTHING that he had, i have a fucking bridge to sell you. Why do you think he's been able to live under the protection of the Russians? Why do you think the Chinese let him pass right on through? He traded something.
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Unless there is proof of that, and I try to keep up with Snowden, I have to think otherwise.
 

Stardestroyer

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,819
His a traitor. my theory on why Russia trolling and espionage has been effective is because Putin used the information he got from Snowden.

In any case he isn't heroic. Heroism generally requires sacrifice and that punk too a lot of information and ran, now he ran to two hated enemies.
 
EnronERA

EnronERA

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,058
Dopus said:
And yet Obama used drones to murder 16 year old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki followed by Trump using brave servicemen to murder his 8-year-old sister Nawar Al-Awlaki.
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Mistakenly identified or collateral damage in a military operation happens. It's a far cry from intentionally assassinating a spy.

We don't even give spies who do far more damage to this country than Snowden did the death penalty; why are we going to start with Snowden? It doesn't make any sense.
 
Replicant

Replicant

Attempted to circumvent a ban with an alt
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,380
MN
He should have did what he did and went to prison for it. Obama probably would have gotten him out at the end of 2016 anyway. Instead he fled like a coward. To Russia of all places.
 
TheMango55

TheMango55

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
5,788
He's clearly much more heroic than Assange and Manning.

It's a shame that Obama didn't pardon him
 

Deleted member 4346

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,976
This topic is fresh and it's already full of hot takes by authoritarian-loving liberals. What a fucking shame.

Snowden is absolutely a hero. He didn't just do a mass data dump, he did a controlled release. And look, Snodwen exposed the Obama administration's wholesale abuses of the Constitution. Americans are being spied on every day, en masse, without any regard to their right to privacy, or protection from unreasonable search. But as a nation we have goldfish brains. Most of us kind of shrugged and went back to our reality TV and Netflix instead of being rightfully enraged.

Also running to Russia versus being disappeared into a prison here in the US was his only move unless you think that the Obama administration would have treated him fairly (they wouldn't have, Obama's record on whistleblowers is an embarrassment). I don't fault him for that. He hasn't gone down the Assange route and become a Putin tool, either.
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
All I ever saw of his leaks was a couple goofy power point slides that revealed our spy agencies do spying. Wow. So many arrows on that map.
 
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