Where do you stand with regard to Edward Snowden? Hero or traitor and why?
He's got a rather sad, inanimate face don't you think. His spectacles and pasty skin speak accurately of the many geekish hours he has spent in front of computer screens. This isn't the all-American action hero - like Bobby Brague in his prime or even Barry Obama. No "Ed" Snowden is a bit of a nobody really - at least he was until he decided to pass a barrowful of highly classified materials to news outlets and seek temporary asylum in Russia.
Perhaps you have already deduced my verdict - that he is quite simply a traitor. He was employed by the US military and the CIA on the strict understanding that he would do what thousands of Americans have done before him - protect his country's secrets. To maintain freedom, some dirty tricks are necessary and only an idiot would think otherwise.
I wonder what will become of Edward Snowden. Will he ever return to his homeland? Maybe he wasn't really in love with it anyway. Maybe he was a born traitor. Maybe his parents' unhappy divorce in 2001 made him especially bitter inside. Maybe he developed a psychological need to escape from geekdom and lash out in revenge - become a "somebody".
A horse is a horse of course of course but what do you think about this particular Mr Ed?
Interesting take on the Why question ~ I heard a similar theory last night, about "lashing out", to explain Lee Harvey Oswald's rise to fame.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I stand? ~ yes I agree his skin does look pasty ~ he needs more gamma rays.
If Snowden comes to Cairns will you give him some gamma rays?
DeleteNot 100% up to date with the casem but I'll give it a go anyway; on paper, a traitor. As you say, he should have known full well what he was doing and why, when he took on the job. Gullible if he didn't, in pretty much the same way we are all gullible if we've never imagined that "they" can listen on to whoever, and whenever, they like. Does anyone really think their emails, facebook gossips, or google searches are secret?
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, from time to time, we need someone like Snowden to throw a cat (or kitten) amongst the chickens and prove to us, that we are right, that "they" do control the world - otherwise we'd all go crazy as conspiracy theorists usually do. Or maybe "they" just make us think we're crazy. Who knows?
A traitor, yes, but I also think, fair do's lad, as long as no personal damage is done (eg; the "anonymous" protest group in Spain often "leak" secret documents too, and this week they leaked the private address of a journalist who has been receiving death threats from far-right nutters. Oops!).
So, the Brian Jury is still out ....
... next!
"Personal damage"? I am sure that Snowden's revelations will have put a lot of his fellow American citizens' lives in jeopardy Brian!
DeleteYou may well be right. I haven't really shown much interest in the contents of what he has revealed. Just knowing that A spies on B, B on A, C on A and B, and ABC on all of us is enough information for my brain I'm afraid.
DeleteAlso, is ironic perhaps the word to describe the fact that a person fighting for personal freedom and civil liberties, ends up in Russia?!
He is just a little shit who had issues with his employers so betrayed his trust in the most spectacular way within his gift.
ReplyDeleteStill, it makes interesting reading,
"A little shit"? Oh so that is the technical term for fellows like Snowden. If he was lined up on the football field, I think he would be pretty much the last to get picked.
DeleteThis particular Mr. Ed is definitely the aft end of a horse, or as my father would say, "the north end of a horse going south"...
ReplyDeleteI bet your father is a great person to have a pint with!
DeleteHow insensitive of you Hippo! Mr Brague's father is long dead.
DeleteBoth Mr. Hippo and Mr. Pudding are correct. Only Mr. Hippo's tense was wrong. My old dad would be 107 if he were still alive.
DeleteBoth Mr. Hippo and Mr. Pudding are correct. Only Mr. Hippo's tense was wrong. My old dad would be 107 if he were still alive.
DeleteWell YP, I am surprised you had to resort to attacking his personal appearance in order to support your point of view... surely not relevant?
ReplyDeletePhysiognomy my dear. Sometimes who we are inside is partly revealed on the outside. As in "Wuthering Heights" - the eyes are the windows of the soul.
DeleteLong time no see, Yorkie. Hope you are doing well!
ReplyDeleteAs you might expect, I have an opinion n Mr. Snowden.
He is a hero to the extent that he called out the NSA, but he is a traitor to the extent that he gave the information to the wrong people. He could have found other venues for his plea, in my humble opinion.