Re: Message from Moscow
Posted by
Pamela McCorduck on
Nov 03, 2013; 3:53pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Message-from-Moscow-tp7584171p7584203.html
I agree with Joshua. All this biz about being honorable is fine when the other side is too. But we have so much evidence that it isn't.
I'm getting some shocking (though unverifiable by me) reports on how the FBI has been treating "friends of friends" of the two Boston Marathon bombers. We know one such "friend" was shot dead (very mysteriously) in Florida; the other reports aren't reassuring.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded
Why does the conversation always hinge on Snowden's morality? We all knew the US government is rotten -- so no news there? But an individual breaking an oath to hide this fact -- that is news? How dare he reveal what we all knew was likely the case?
Snowden was well aware of how whistleblowers are treated in the US
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews_Drake, specifically with character assassination, legal prosecution, and physical and psychological intimidation. Why exactly would it be more honorable to sacrifice himself ineffectually? It seems the manner he chose got his message out and he has been able to continue to shape and argue his case. Something he would not likely have been able to do had he given himself up to the US's prison system that allows for punitive isolation, something he would likely have received to protect us, his victims, from any more of his dangerous ideas and information.
--joshua
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