He has some good advice, I'd venture to say.

A well thought out plan, indeed.

The last time such knowledge was offered to the public the media only mentioned it. This time the longer it goes on, the more the media is going to have to deal with the truths and consequences. Which will be better for everyone in the long run.

and direct government access to servers:

Last edited Mon Jun 17, 2013, 05:18 PM - Edit history (1)

from other sources. For instance, USA today has a great piece with three other whistleblowers talking about this. I don't have the link, but it's right here on DU. I'll try to find it and post it.

Here you go: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023030479

That was his initial allegation. Google and other companies denied his allegations.

Snowden claims more information regarding this is coming, but he has still offered to proof of directive access.

We shall see.

to those who want to stifle the discussion.. thankfully!

thanks for the link, Cali

questioning the Bush Republicans Clapper and Mueller. You seem to want this all to go away. You apparently have faith in your government to take good care of you. I dont have that faith. It appears to me that you are oblivious to the erosion of our Constitutional rights. Either that or you are willing to sacrifice them to the god of security.

Snowden is no longer the issue here. Lynching him wont put the faith genie back into Pandora's box. The little pleasure it would give you would be short lived.

want to speak out. Let them speak. Support transparency over secrecy.

I'm not preventing anyone from speaking. Everyone has a right to speak their minds just like everyone has a right to question people's claims.

Persecution it is not.

Unfortunately, they never actually say anything, except to point out how very persecuted they are.

This here is precisely why I hold Edward Snowden's motives suspect.

This quote by Snowden invites the question, "What are you waiting for? You have the stage right now. Why don't you release what you have now?"

I do not know what is going on in that young man's mind, nor does anybody no matter what they claim. But I can think of no rational reason for him to not dump what he has into the media while he still has everybody's attention and in a situation where even he claims that his freedom -- indeed, even his life -- is in very real danger.

This is yet another very troubling piece of information concerning this affair.

Maybe he has his reasons, but as time goes by and there is no subsequent release, we will know. Alternatively, if he is captured soon, people will properly question why he delayed. Either way, I must either question his veracity or his common sense.

Why make a big deal about the risk he is in and then withhold allegedly important information. It makes no logical sense whatsoever.

The journalists he is working with are readying new articles -- the info he gives them has to be checked out as much as possible, the articles have to be written -- give them a bit of time. The heat is on them to be as accurate as possible to avoid attempts at discrediting.

But if he is in danger, why wait to release all of it?

I am still reserving judgement on Mr. Snowden. Some of his interpretations of the information is not holding up. There is only so much that is revealed in a Power Point presentation. Without the technical descriptions behind those Power Points I am not sure what "direct connection" means, for instance. After all, every Inet connected computer on the planet can be said to be directly connected to every other one. Every Inet admin who's ever lived knows that from the get go. It's Internet 101.

What I worry about here is that people are setting their hair on fire about mundane issues and when they are proven wrong it will still be legal for such widespread spying as has been revealed here to continue.

That is why we all have to keep our heads on our shoulders, think rationally, not jump to confusions, and give this some time before we start throwing DUers (and some Democrats in general) under the bus.

Calm down everybody. Let's see what happens.

IT and NSA, have to "edit" what Snowden says, so it doesn't come off as "incorrect" and be discredited?

Hell, at this point, Snowden IS the story. Let's hear from him, without filters, and learn what he knows, in his own words.

He doesn't need an editor. He's already famous. Let him speak, and then we can figure out if he makes sense.

Who is paying his bills? Who is hiding him in a safe house? Who wrote his prepared statements on video?

Inquiring minds want to know!

show some of theirs. Let the NSA squirm a little. They arent sure what he has on them and they know they arent innocent.

his claim about direct access.

At one time being a Democrat meant keeping an open mind. But some so-called Democrats want to get a rope and lynch Snowden and anyone else that might dare question the authority of the NSA. Doesnt help to tell them that we knew they were acting illegally under the Boosh and the players havent changed. Why trust them now?

An open minded person might say, "Let's wait and see what Snowden has to say. He may be an idiot or he may have something."
But the authoritarian has to stifle immediately any and all dissidents that may challenge the strong authoritarian rule.

I don't take anyone's assertions at face value. That said, when someone starts to develop a track record for inaccurate comments, that should be taken into consideration, too.

No one is "stifling" discussion here--except on another thread I visited recently, where the bulk of the responses to the OP were insults directed at the person who posted a couple of links. And the insult-tossers were also Snowden cheerleaders...so there ya go.

You'll always find people who try to derail threads when they aren't to their liking--it's a DU tradition.

Further, this isn't about "Democrats" or "Republicans." Al Franken isn't a Republican, and he's got some questions. Glen Beck thinks Mister Snowden is a hero for the ages. To try to paint this as a 'party line' issue just doesn't cut it. It isn't.

immediately go after the whistle-blower. Those people are not opened minded. They want to stifle the discussion. People that are pointing out things about Snowden's personal life are not interested in hearing what he has to say. People attack Greenwald because they want the messenger dead as soon as possible. I would love to know that our government isnt lying to us, but they have a very bad track record. Therefore, I am inclined to listen when someone says they have evidence. I support transparency. If Snowden is a fake, it will come out in due time.

And I agree that this isnt Democrat vs. Republican. But I dont trust any Republicans especially if they worked for Cheney like Clapper and Mueller.

arguments are compelling, or his proof is unquestionable and clear to anyone looking at it, simply because they LIKE what he is SAYING. They LIKE the idea of some NSA hero on a Hong Kong horse, riding into the sunset after having "exposed" wrongdoing.

It's not at all clear if this guy has exposed anything save a penchant for publicity. He started out getting everyone's attention by suggesting he could push a button and listen in on POTUS, that this was his level of power, and he has backed way off that assertion. Also, I am getting the sense that he's counting on people not understanding what "SIGINT" is, and how it differs from "COMINT."

The more he talks, in sum, the less valid he is sounding. Also, this "Wait, wait...there's MORE TO COME..." nonsense is just not professional. He has everyone's attention. Do a document dump of all the material he lifted from the agencies where he worked, and be done with it. This dribs-n-drabs game is just not cool and it IS--like it or not--suggestive of attention seeking or some other issue.

Frankly, I'm not ready to rule out a medical problem --adult onset epilepsy is a rare thing indeed, and he supposedly has it. It could be indicative of a problem that impacted Mister Snowden's judgment.

You and your kissass friend, Greenwald.

Enjoy what is left of your life in purgatory.
You'll never walk on U.S. soil a free man ever again!!

I don't know about the rest of you but my attention is starting to flag.

And some of you have...let's say, 'peaked' too soon.

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This guy, not so much.

Speak now, or forever hold your peace--and don't do it through "editors" who didn't do such a hot job reporting the story in the first place.

How depressing.

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this is not going away any time soon.
i decided that buying shares in popcorn production facilities was the way to go, popcorn and party streamer manufacturers, you heard it here first!

Violated, now do we believe his lies now. He was a rogue employee, not to be trusted. With the talk about the cause he was a spy all the time.

derp.

Where are all these uber authoritarians coming from? I mean, besides bad homes...