Midnightrider wrote on 07/02/13 at 23:26:06:Statement From Edward Snowden in Moscow
WikiLeaks
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.
This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised – and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
Whether what he did was correctly motivated or not, I agree with the gist of his statement. The entire political machine is in motion to crucify him, not that he deserving of it or that what he "leaked" was of ANY consequence .. no .. the machine needs to prove to all others the extent to which they will go destroy anyone tampering NOT with the US... but with the machine.
Having worked now for many years with those from other countries. There seems to be an ever growing weight to a theory I have. Those from other countries, other cultures ASSUME that the greatness of the US is linked directly to the government and it laws and rules. This is false and those growing up here know it. The greatness of the US is due to its people... their virtues and morals. The government (was) run by those with such qualities. The (US) government is not good or bad, it is a reflection of those who are in power or those that voted for those in power (least we voters think ourselves innocent).
Sri's point is not invalid, but it belies what others may see as the bigger picture. Did Snowden do wrong? Most assuredly. Did he leak anything worthy of the condition he finds himself in? Hardly. Ask yourself: if YOU were guilty of doing something .. beyond all doubt, but you had covered it up successfully, and then were exposed .. what better way to reduce the "guilt' than to paint the one that exposed you as GUILTY and unworthy of praise at exposing your guilt. The American public has a darn short attention span. With out constant chatter about a topic it goes old and stale fast. Ask any tween about the what Snowden uncovered, they cant remember... they can remember that he is a fugitive and bad man. misdirection.
Lets make sure WE all know what its about: the NSA sought and got congressional approval to tap every phone in America. Every citizen is RIGHT NOW a criminal. You just haven't been targeted yet. Right now YOU have NO privacy.. NONE. ZERO. The NSA can tap your phone, capture and keep your emails and browsing history, and if you think going "off grid' will protect you.. wrong again.. they can just send in the drones. Currently, every US citizen is required to have an SSN, soon you will be required to have national ID as well. Your ability to work will depend upon it, insurance, and all other assigned benefits will be tied to it. Schools, banks, stores, cities.. all will seek to adopt this new ID as an official identifier for their own purposes. Once that occurs, one can literally be "KILLED" just by the deletion of that number.
It is 2013... it is illegal to use SSN as an identifier.. it is risky to even keep and distribute it. And yet...here, where I work (a university), SSN is STILL being used .. still being requested as a form of identification. We still depend on it.. we just hide it in the background.
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