At the ripe old age of 25.

If the NSA couldn't keep their own secrets a secret due to this kind of lax security permissions, what's to stop foreign intelligence operatives from doing a lot more damage to its operations and the privacy of all Americans?

"3. Wasn’t a friendly neighbor." You've got to be fucking kidding me.

So I posted again.

Sorry.

I imagine that's a particularly egregious offense. I bet he squeezes the toothpaste from the middle. Bastard.

Maybe there were new reports about his table manners or something.

going your way.

Unfortunately there's no way to recover a post once it's self-deleted. So that's why I re-posted.

Pretty straightforward actually. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

try to see if one's OP will get better responses if posted a 2nd time.

Couldn't people who replied to my first OP just reply to my second OP?

weakness of the post.

I actually don't think the article is silly at all. It's actually helpful for people who want to know more about Snowden. Nothing wrong with providing people with information.

I think my next door neighbor is an asshole, btw.

that may or may not have been routinely molested.

Or was that Manning?

Whatever, he's evil, I tells ya. EEEEEeeeevil.

The nerve!

He's toast!

getting some conflicting reports here. not sure if I should hate him more or not. please advise.

YMMV.

I can see that.

Right?

Which are we more concerned with at this point?

Fuck Ron Paul and his loyal Paulites.

Thank you.

Makes one kind of question his motive . . . and judgment.

Ron Paul? The guy of the racist newsletters who denied having anything to do them in the presidential campaign, even though they were published with his signature, and who didn't even offer to return the money he made from them.

Yep, makes me wonder about this guy. And how the hell does a guy without a high school diploma get such a sensitive position?

That's the best Politico and you could come up with? The likes of &quot He) wasn’t a friendly neighbor"???

...but I'm currently a full professor of zoology at the CSU. I note that Snowden's failure to complete HS is being used as a subtle (and not so subtle) discredit. I disagree.

on edit-- Oh, and I've lived here for nearly 15 years and barely have a passing acquaintance with my neighbors, so I suppose I'm a "bad neighbor" too!

I was the only one of my brothers and sisters to drop out of high school and the first to go to college. I graduated with highest honors.
In between, I earned a GED, passing it with very high scores.

I worked with lots of people in MI like that. The military trains you. DLI alone takes forever and then linguists go to 2 more schools after that before they get to their duty stations. But this guy didn't make it in the military.

And didn't finish community college. First job at NSA was as a security guard. Then went to CIA as IT security. Say WHAT?? How did he go from security guard to IT security at the CIA without a degree?

Did Politico miss something? Maybe. I haven't been impressed with anybody's reporting lately. OTOH it wouldn't surprise me if he had padded his resume a bit. That's not uncommon. Gutsy, but...

Man, Politico does have shitty journalistic standards, doesn't it?

Just sayin'

It's like basing the coverage of a trial on what the lawyers, witnesses and jury is wearing each day.

Did someone else report that he saved his neighbor's cat from a tree?

"boxes piled floor-to-ceiling in his garage " six months after he moved in - so, he has that in common with most of the world ...

Just sayin'

...it's been well established that he colored outside the lines in first grade. I think caution is in order.

The media and the people that post their smears are so pathetic.

What was is actual job description?
Forgive me if I get a bit pragmatic from time to time.
For all I know he could have been the person who changed the filters on the server racks.

Sorry, I don't want to form my over all opinion based on how the neighbors say someone piled boxes.

Lynch him!



Seriously? That's included in this list?

I hear he once went through the 10 item express lane with 14 items!

I'm shocked and stunned!

i'm so angry I can't even see straight!

I heard he tried to use a coupon that expired the previous day!

Ain't POLITICO grand! Always tempted to print it out to line my cat box. Sadly don't have a cat anymore.

How did he get that job?

Not without some fancy resume padding.

6. First job with NSA was as a security guard. The Guardian reported that Snowden was a security guard at a covert NSA facility at the University of Maryland before moving on to the CIA to work on IT security.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/10-things-to-know-about-edward-snowden-92491.html#ixzz2VpkXHFrh

Many tech businesses don't give two shits about a degree - they want someone who is certified in a skill set.

In other words, one can take a series of courses at a reputable computer learning center, pass all their certifications testing and be eligible for a variety of five- and six-figure jobs where a degree is not required.

They recruit the cream of the crop from the graduating classes of colleges all over America and the world. Even the very best hackers get degrees and advanced degrees.

He was a plant from the beginning, specifically to do this. That's why he went from CIA to a private contractor at NSA. It took him less than 3 months on the job to get it done. Then he ran.

And guess who has strong ties to China? George H. W. Bush, having lived there for 14 months as the Liaison to China. And the company Snowden worked for is owned by Carlyle, owned by the Bush family. And GHWB was CIA Director. Getting clearer now?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Bush

Bush as United States Liaison to China, circa 1975
Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, appointed Bush to be Chief of the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China. Since the United States at the time maintained official relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan and not the People's Republic of China, the Liaison Office did not have the official status of an embassy and Bush did not formally hold the position of "ambassador", though he unofficially acted as one. The time that he spent in China – 14 months – was seen as largely beneficial for US-Chinese relations.[13]

But, you are wrong.

I work in a company that pays that because of what we do.

even with a degree it's rare. Even more difficult to get a gig like that with the government, which seems to always require a degree. That makes me wonder what other stuff this guy may have done to demonstrate himself to be an asset to them.

You DON'T get that job in the government, but most of the companies who WOULD pay you that work WITH the government. And you make connections.

In Snowden's case, he was already "in" and only needed the certs.

I don't know of many companies that will pay six figures to someone with a few entry-level or even intermediate/professional level certs and limited experience. Most of the jobs that pay amount seem to require some of the top tier certifications that usually require X amount of professional experience before you can even attempt them. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting he's involved in some crazy conspiracy to put some unqualified guy in there just so he could leak the information. I'm saying the guy must have something more than just being a high school drop out who took a few computer courses. I'm curious to hear about those credentials and his background that made people think he would be an asset.

That is, he could have gone from security guard to the guy who switches out the backup tapes.

No really. I would. Just point. Name a name.

As a comp sci guy, this makes me think Im marketing myself all wrong.

Maybe he saw something and kept his mouth shut. I would of done that job at half the pay, with five times the qualifications, probably much much better. Im a whore. I'd spy on my cat for that kind of dough.

anybody who thinks that's normal has never looked for a job.

This has nothing to do with the intelligence community, either. I was in MI. You can do all sorts of things in MI without a degree. As a matter of fact there are something's that enlisted people do in MI that officers can't do. So even if you have a degree your only option is to enlist to do that work.

After years of MI experience it is possible to go to CIA without a degree. But that's not what happened in Snowden's case. He boloed in Ranger training so never had any experience at all, much less in MI.

He was the IT guy. The one you call when you can't get the printer to work. He was only "Security" in that part of his job would be to install security patches.

Faking the resume? I had an ex-relative who did that. Scary, since he got a job as an engineer without being qualified.

not who he says he is or a decoy for the leaker.

The best defense is a strong offense. Shoot the messenger, since you can't take on the message.

I don't give a shit about Snowden. I care about the message.

believe that since they follow personalities rather than issues, that approaching spin catering to that mindset would also fool the rest of us.

Because if it turns out he's some sort of opportunist, it's not going to play well for the impact of his messages and those from everyone else.

that's where I'm going to focus my attentions and energies. The rest is irrelevant.

.... after a shower.

Instead of INSIDE the tub... where it's supposed to go.

TYY

Right? Isn't that really what's relevant? Or are we still on boxers or briefs?

Did he own an iguana? That seems to be a rather telling and relevant omission that none of the MSM have covered...

Good to see DU getting back to normal.

Wow. Just wow. That guy is *dead* to me. Game over.

Kudos to whichever investigative journalist came up with such devastating material.

Glad to see no one's buying.

Jesus. Damn if any of my own neighbors couldn't say that about me. And he displayed ignorance re: Ron Paul that a very large number of similar young idealistic voters did as well...

This is ridiculous. Yet, some seem damn near ready to call for a rope. Good gawd.

Maybe he also (shudder!) kept a lawnmower and TOOLS(!) in there too!!

what does that tell you about how bloated our domestic surveillance operations have become?

I'd say the establishment (well represented by Politico, as ever) needs to slow down a bit and consider their approach to character assassination of whistleblowers. If you care about this issue, you care about the issue-- not personality worship.

Go ahead. Prove the guy's underqualified, ill-considered. How about crazy?

It's not like he didn't work there and didn't have the access.

Unless you believe the post a couple threads over that contends he's a Bush-family "plant" put there for the sole purpose of embarrassing the Obama administration.

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya know, those really suck!! Only poor type people go to them.

LOL.

paddle-tail issue I've been dealing with since it happened.

So do the threads on DU approving of the White House policies of extending and enhancing some of the WORST Security State Policies of the Bush Administration,
disregarding the individual protections guaranteed by 4th Amendment,
and persecution of Whistle Blowers.

In some cases, members of DU are now serving as willing accomplices to the government's persecution of Whistle Blowers.

I'm embarrassed that I didn't realize right away that everything in that list is so lame, it cannot possibly be a serious attack on him.

Mother suspected he might have been playing with himself but could not prove it.

And his favorite color is Green.

Shakes fist!!!

Good gravy, what a hilarious post.

I haven't had enough time to follow this story very deeply to form an opinion - but such obvious and stupid character assassinations like this really make me have to wonder...

I do find the part about him going from security guard to an IT security role to be interesting, but everything else seems like an attempt to smear him. So we was an unsociable high school drop out who doesn't use facebook or twitter?

I wonder if he holds any IT certifications at least. I'm assuming he would at least have to have something to get an IT job at the NSA. Particularly if he didn't have any previous employment background in the area.

In charge. I was wondering about this. I usually pooh pooh conspiracy theories but this is a big jump up and down one, Rand might be more ruthless than his father.

*EGREGIOUS*

Taste the rainbow!