Snowdon is a dummy

Two years on, the difference is profound. In a single month, the N.S.A.’s invasive call-tracking program was declared unlawful by the courts and disowned by Congress. After a White House-appointed oversight board investigation found that this program had not stopped a single terrorist attack, even the president who once defended its propriety and criticized its disclosure has now ordered it terminated.

This is the power of an informed public.

Ending the mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen, but it is only the latest product of a change in global awareness. Since 2013, institutions across Europe have ruled similar laws and operations illegal and imposed new restrictions on future activities. The United Nations declared mass surveillance an unambiguous violation of human rights. In Latin America, the efforts of citizens in Brazil led to the Marco Civil, an Internet Bill of Rights. Recognizing the critical role of informed citizens in correcting the excesses of government, the Council of Europe called for new laws to protect whistle-blowers.

Beyond the frontiers of law, progress has come even more quickly. Technologists have worked tirelessly to re-engineer the security of the devices that surround us, along with the language of the Internet itself. Secret flaws in critical infrastructure that had been exploited by governments to facilitate mass surveillance have been detected and corrected. Basic technical safeguards such as encryption — once considered esoteric and unnecessary — are now enabled by default in the products of pioneering companies like Apple, ensuring that even if your phone is stolen, your private life remains private. Such structural technological changes can ensure access to basic privacies beyond borders, insulating ordinary citizens from the arbitrary passage of anti-privacy laws, such as those now descending upon Russia.

In any case, it is toothpaste that cannot be put back into the tube.

insulating ordinary citizens from the arbitrary passage of anti-privacy laws, such as those now descending upon Russia.

Wonder if he will list those anti-privacy laws which are now descending upon Russia? Apparently he is some kind of computer wiz, surely he can hack his way into Russian classified government information.

Frank Apisa wrote:

Now I hope he comes back to the United States to get a fair trial

He's got more chance of getting a decent cup of tea.

What if your country is betraying its values and its people? What if it is betraying humanity?

We re human beings, first and foremost. We have a duty to our fellow human beings, which trumps any nationalism. We're citizens of the world, and more and more so.

Some Americans believe the way you and some others feel; there are some Americans who believe loyalty to one's country is of paramount importance and think no American should be a traitor to his place of birth;

The same could be said of Germans during the 3rd Reich.

Snowden supporters say USA Freedom Act is proof the former NSA contractor should be allowed to come home

The passage of the USA Freedom Act is the first major effort by Congress to rein in parts of the Patriot Act and the NSA's bulk data collection program. But the law may never have been passed had it not been for Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked information about that agency's broad surveillance powers.

Earlier this week, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said the new law makes our country stronger, not weaker, in the face of terrorism and security.

"I think it is a victory for Edward Snowden," said Rep. Nadler, who co-authored the House's version of the bill. "[Snowden] revealed illegal, I would say unconstitutional, action by the government, which had been secret for years. Because of his revelation, people found out about this and Congress reacted to it, and we changed the law to make clear that they couldn't do what they were doing."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest disagrees. He told reporters this week that Snowden "committed very serious crimes," and that he should return to the United States to face the justice system.

John Cassidy, staff writer for The New Yorker, says it's time to recognize the value of Snowden's revelations, drop all threats of prosecution, and bring him home.

“I’ve always been on Snowden’s side in this debate,” says Cassidy. “This is a person who gave up a great deal to inform us what was going on. He took a great risk to himself, and he’s now been languishing in Russia for two years. I think rather than leaving him to languish there, we should thank him and enter into some sort of plea bargain with him that allows him to come home.”

Though lawmakers on Capitol Hill are patting themselves on the back for passing the USA Freedom Act, Cassidy argues that at least some of the credit belongs with Snowden.

“There’s absolutely no way this law would have ever gone into effect if Snowden hadn’t done what he did,” he says.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the USA Freedom Act a "resounding victory for Edward Snowden." However, he added that the new law "is also a resounding victory for those who currently plot against our homeland."

“Some people have suggested that [Snowden] is cooperating with the Russians. Back in 2013, there were also suggestions that he was showing the Chinese what he had during his stopover in Hong Kong,” says Cassidy. “There’s never been any evidence to suggest any of that [is true].”

While some argue that Snowden is a treasonous traitor, others say that he should be given a job consulting with the government on surveillance policy.

“At the very least, even if we don’t do that, we owe it to him to give him the opportunity to come home and carry on with his life,” says Cassidy.

Additionally, Cassidy says Snowden’s leaks worked to positively change the entire political climate that had been in effect from September 11, 2001, until his revelations in 2013.

“The politically safe thing to do before Snowden came along was to just let the NSA get on with it,” he says. “The default position for politicians of both parties was basically to give the spooks, the Pentagon, and the national security establishment whatever it wanted. What Snowden did — he changed the political calculus.”

I'm just saying that blind allegiance to one's country government is for the narrow minded. Snowden had a broader view than that and he served his country well by betraying his oath. Moral choices are more complicated than just worshipping authority, IMHO.

Snowden deserves a fair trial...so he has the opportunity to clear his name.

That is what I want to see him get...a fair trial.