NSA leaker Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

[GM_Tood]

Heroes dont go to jail or have to answer for thier "heoric" deeds right?

I am not sure if that is accurate. Political prisoners could be considered heroes for standing up for what they believe.

Totally agree with that statement. I do not consider him a political activist of any sort.

 

If he was so against the type of work the NSA does, why take the job? If he was so concerned about free speech and the "right of political dissent" why didn't he just hitch the freedom flight to Iceland instead of HK? Maybe my initial vote of tratior isn't justified, but I don't see how this guy is coming across as some sort of poster child for those who think people that are trusted with TS/Confidential information can just throw those secrets into the wind and see what good comes out of it. Oh well.

[StPaulHusker]

Heroes dont go to jail or have to answer for thier "heoric" deeds right?

I am not sure if that is accurate. Political prisoners could be considered heroes for standing up for what they believe.

Totally agree with that statement. I do not consider him a political activist of any sort.

 

If he was so against the type of work the NSA does, why take the job? If he was so concerned about free speech and the "right of political dissent" why didn't he just hitch the freedom flight to Iceland instead of HK? Maybe my initial vote of tratior isn't justified, but I don't see how this guy is coming across as some sort of poster child for those who think people that are trusted with TS/Confidential information can just throw those secrets into the wind and see what good comes out of it. Oh well.

I didn't mean to imply that you did consider him. I took your statement for how it was written and it seems so did some other people. You said Heroes don't go to jail. They do go to jail. And it will be debatable whether this man is a hero.

[knapplc]

While I can certainly understand his position and what he did, I think in order to be labeled either of these terms, you need to stand up in person to whom you are going up against. Hero or traitor is debatable depending on how you felt about the original topic of the phone record surveillance.

 

Our founding fathers stood in this country and faced certain death due to treason against Great Britain for signing the Declaration of Independence. They didn't do it from China. So for right now, in my mind, he is a coward.

 

That's pretty easy to say sitting in your chair.

 

You're saying that if you were in his shoes, you'd still be in America, waiting for trial? And that if you had the chance to go somewhere and avoid a certain conviction, you wouldn't?

Running to avoid conviction is cowardly. I don't see the difference in the crimes committed.

 

So you, not being cowardly, would be in America facing prosecution if you blew the whistle on criminal activity.

[StPaulHusker]

While I can certainly understand his position and what he did, I think in order to be labeled either of these terms, you need to stand up in person to whom you are going up against. Hero or traitor is debatable depending on how you felt about the original topic of the phone record surveillance.

 

Our founding fathers stood in this country and faced certain death due to treason against Great Britain for signing the Declaration of Independence. They didn't do it from China. So for right now, in my mind, he is a coward.

 

That's pretty easy to say sitting in your chair.

 

You're saying that if you were in his shoes, you'd still be in America, waiting for trial? And that if you had the chance to go somewhere and avoid a certain conviction, you wouldn't?

Running to avoid conviction is cowardly. I don't see the difference in the crimes committed.

 

So you, not being cowardly, would be in America facing prosecution if you blew the whistle on criminal activity.

I believe I would take my chances here. Based on the amount of publicity this story has received and the amount of lawyers always looking for a fight, yes I would. If I feel that strongly about something, I would risk it.

 

 

[knapplc]

I believe I would take my chances here. Based on the amount of publicity this story has received and the amount of lawyers always looking for a fight, yes I would. If I feel that strongly about something, I would risk it.

 

That's a lot of trust in a government that you just busted secretly spying on everyone, in flagrant violation of the very constitution that created said government. You really think a government that's going to run PRISM, et al, is going to give you any chance to live, no matter how correct you were?

[GM_Tood]

Heroes dont go to jail or have to answer for thier "heoric" deeds right?

I am not sure if that is accurate. Political prisoners could be considered heroes for standing up for what they believe.

Totally agree with that statement. I do not consider him a political activist of any sort.

 

If he was so against the type of work the NSA does, why take the job? If he was so concerned about free speech and the "right of political dissent" why didn't he just hitch the freedom flight to Iceland instead of HK? Maybe my initial vote of tratior isn't justified, but I don't see how this guy is coming across as some sort of poster child for those who think people that are trusted with TS/Confidential information can just throw those secrets into the wind and see what good comes out of it. Oh well.

I didn't mean to imply that you did consider him. I took your statement for how it was written and it seems so did some other people. You said Heroes don't go to jail. They do go to jail. And it will be debatable whether this man is a hero.

Got it...all heroes go to jail. I just wish sometimes message board posts (like my original) could have some quirky tone added to it. It's all good man.

[StPaulHusker]

I believe I would take my chances here. Based on the amount of publicity this story has received and the amount of lawyers always looking for a fight, yes I would. If I feel that strongly about something, I would risk it.

 

That's a lot of trust in a government that you just busted secretly spying on everyone, in flagrant violation of the very constitution that created said government. You really think a government that's going to run PRISM, et al, is going to give you any chance to live, no matter how correct you were?

The question was asked Traitor or Hero? I answered neither. He is a Coward. You asked what I would do and I told you. There are people that have faced more difficult governments than ours and lived to tell about it and even succeeded afterwards without as much worldwide recognition as this guy is getting. I am just not a fan of doing something and then running and hiding from consequences.

[knapplc]

I believe I would take my chances here. Based on the amount of publicity this story has received and the amount of lawyers always looking for a fight, yes I would. If I feel that strongly about something, I would risk it.

 

That's a lot of trust in a government that you just busted secretly spying on everyone, in flagrant violation of the very constitution that created said government. You really think a government that's going to run PRISM, et al, is going to give you any chance to live, no matter how correct you were?

The question was asked Traitor or Hero? I answered neither. He is a Coward. You asked what I would do and I told you. There are people that have faced more difficult governments than ours and lived to tell about it and even succeeded afterwards without as much worldwide recognition as this guy is getting. I am just not a fan of doing something and then running and hiding from consequences.

 

And I said those were pretty easy words to say sitting in your chair, and I stand by that.

[StPaulHusker]

I believe I would take my chances here. Based on the amount of publicity this story has received and the amount of lawyers always looking for a fight, yes I would. If I feel that strongly about something, I would risk it.

 

That's a lot of trust in a government that you just busted secretly spying on everyone, in flagrant violation of the very constitution that created said government. You really think a government that's going to run PRISM, et al, is going to give you any chance to live, no matter how correct you were?

The question was asked Traitor or Hero? I answered neither. He is a Coward. You asked what I would do and I told you. There are people that have faced more difficult governments than ours and lived to tell about it and even succeeded afterwards without as much worldwide recognition as this guy is getting. I am just not a fan of doing something and then running and hiding from consequences.

 

And I said those were pretty easy words to say sitting in your chair, and I stand by that.

I can appreciate that. Until my feet are held to a flame as hot as the one this guy is facing, we will never know. But I believe in my personal fortitude.

[The Dude]

I haven't read a thing about the guy yet. Is he as much of a self-important douche as the wiki leaks guy?

[knapplc]

I haven't read a thing about the guy yet. Is he as much of a self-important douche as the wiki leaks guy?

 

LINK

[BigRedBuster]

Even though I picked option 3 in the poll, I fail to see what the fact about him fleeing instead of standing trial has anything to do if he is a hero or a traitor.

 

He is either a hero or traitor based on the act of releasing information. If my country was doing something absolutely horrible and it needed to be reported and I let that out, I would have absolutely no problem fading off into the sunset to spend the rest of my life relatively anonymous in a small ski village in the Swiss Alps or on some Greek Island.

 

I would know that I did the right thing and others benefited from that.

[StPaulHusker]

Even though I picked option 3 in the poll, I fail to see what the fact about him fleeing instead of standing trial has anything to do if he is a hero or a traitor.

 

He is either a hero or traitor based on the act of releasing information. If my country was doing something absolutely horrible and it needed to be reported and I let that out, I would have absolutely no problem fading off into the sunset to spend the rest of my life relatively anonymous in a small ski village in the Swiss Alps or on some Greek Island.

 

I would know that I did the right thing and others benefited from that.

But that's not what this guy is doing. He could have chosen to remain anonymous but didn't.

 

On another note. Does anyone notice the resemblance between SNOWden and the 90's rapper Snow?

 

[knapplc]

He could have chosen to remain anonymous but didn't.

 

Please tell me you're joking.

[BigRedBuster]

That still has no bearing on if I consider him a hero or traitor. I have no problem with him wanting to get at least his side of the story out.

 

Now, if he ultimately is a traitor, our country needs to find him and stop him from giving more and more information to our enemies. But, again, him running is not the deciding factor on that.