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I’m a leftist, not a libertarian, but I always feel compelled to bring up a specific point in Snowden’s defense when he is mentioned to divisive opinions:
He did speak up correctly, using the correct channels, and the proper channels told him to shut the fuck up.
Then he again did what he did the rightest way he could, by giving the data to one of the oldest members of the fourth estate, the press, to decide proper course, ONLY AFTER the primary state failed him spectacularly.
Do you know why he had to out himself? Why didn’t he give stuff to the papers and stay hidden?
They were state secrets with a very well documented list of individuals to which it had been disclosed and he was documented as having had taken issue with the program. It’s reasonable that it would be traced back to him and that he would not be given protections or a fair trial.
Which still would have given him more time to get to somewhere like Cambodia that doesn’t extradite. No this was an ego thing. Either that or he was already compromised by the Chinese and they demanded it to trap him.
It seems more likely that he figured he’d be found out anyway, and decided there might be some safety in the light. Everyone knows him and what he did, instead of just some 3 letter agency that could suicide him without anyone ever noticing.
