MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin grants Russian citizenship to former US security contractor Edward Snowden.

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) September 26, 2022

I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

Well at least now I know that Snowden isn't dead. Now to forget his existence until the interwebs remind me of him again in the future.

Later: Snowden conscripted and sent to Ukraine front lines.

Demosthenes81 said:

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Later: Snowden conscripted and sent to Ukraine front lines.

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POTD-level post needs another star.

Suspect Putin has much more useful purposes for Citizen Snowden than the Ukraine front lines

They can't be that hard up for conscripts

Putin doesn't have a long shelf life anymore

I already know Snowden's secret.

Man is matter.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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He is a hero and I would love to see DeSantis name him as a running mate.

The 3 letter agencies have lost their way and now place their own interests ahead of those of the American people. It was Snowden who opened America's eyes to the depth of the surveillance state ordinary citizens live in.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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Maybe I'm severely misinformed, but listening to him discuss his situation, I thought he was pretty admirable.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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WRONG /trump gif

Snowden blew the whistle on unconstitutional, warrantless domestic spying from the NSA. He may or may not have gone about it the wrong way, but he was right to blow the whistle on the criminal enterprise that the feds were running.

Demosthenes81 said:

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Later: Snowden conscripted and sent to Ukraine front lines.

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Exactly my thoughts, now as a citizen he can be drafted…

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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A) He's a hero if you value freedom over "security". Quotations marks are very intentional.

B) How out of touch/deep in the sand does your head have to be to caught off guard by the fact that he isn't universally reviled as a traitor?!? It's been nearly 10 years since he blew the whistle.

Can't blame Snowden. US turned their back on this guy.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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If you're against it, it has to be good.

Snowden is both a hero and a villain.

He was right for exposing the government was spying in American citizens.

He was dead wrong in exposing our means and methods to every bad actor on the planet.

The former does not excuse the latter.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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Do you think people should be loyal to the government or to the people?

Rapier108 said:

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Snowden is both a hero and a villain.

He was right for exposing the government was spying in American citizens.

He was dead wrong in exposing our means and methods to every bad actor on the planet.

The former does not excuse the latter.

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Who does he turn to for protection? No one in the US is trustworthy or could protect him.

Any EU power would turn him over.

His only options are China, Russia, Brazil, or India. And the latter two might sell him out just like the EU.

The government should be loyal to the people. Therein lies the real issue imo.

Snowden significantly reduced the NSAs ability to attack it's enemies. The problem is that the feds also view Americans as enemies.

Govt security guys I've talked to hate him. Lots of other people love him. Regardless, if they hadn't done that whole illegal spying on citizens thing, nothing would have happened.

Eddie Snowden is a criminal who gave the Chinese and Russian's secrets which had bupkis to do with Americans.

I for one hope he ends up pushing up sunflowers in Ukraine.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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He wouldn't be in this position if Obama's NSA wasn't illegally spying on American citizens
He had to leave the country because the lettered agencies would have assassinated him.
Because he blew the lid on their illegal activities.

Let that sink in.

You can read Ben Rhodes in his own words, bragging in his book about he forced the Cubans to withdraw the guarantee of safe passage they had given Snowden to allow him to leave Russia, as he was desperately trying to do.https://t.co/x1pePbAZBm

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 26, 2022

Rapier108 said:

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Snowden is both a hero and a villain.

He was right for exposing the government was spying in American citizens.

He was dead wrong in exposing our means and methods to every bad actor on the planet.

The former does not excuse the latter.

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What's the line from Spiderman..."With great power comes great responsibility."

When you take tools and techniques that were developed to keep American safe and you turn them against Americans, you no longer get to use them. You can kick and scream all you want that "you made America less safe", but in reality, it was those who decided to use them internally instead of against our enemies that did that.

I talked about this on Rogan's show: even Obama officials admit Snowden desperately tried to leave Russia from the first second he landed in Moscow, but - led by Biden - they did everything to trap him there. Then they used it to say he was a Russian spy:pic.twitter.com/ckJTEQIw2n

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 26, 2022

I remember when the news broke that the feds were spying on US citizens thinking, "We didn't already know this? What did they think would happen with the PATRIOT Act?"

He only confirmed what a lot of us already assumed was happening, and then he endangered a lot of assets overseas.

Some hero, that.

aggiehawg said:

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You can read Ben Rhodes in his own words, bragging in his book about he forced the Cubans to withdraw the guarantee of safe passage they had given Snowden to allow him to leave Russia, as he was desperately trying to do.https://t.co/x1pePbAZBm

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 26, 2022

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Ben Rhodes is an intellectual lightweight and a foreign policy disaster.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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Curious, why do you think Snowden is a traitor and a criminal wbt5845?

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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As Lee Corso would say..."Not so fast, my friend."

No longer convinced EVERYTHING our govt. does is beneficial for its citizens or on the up and up!

FriscoKid said:

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MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin grants Russian citizenship to former US security contractor Edward Snowden.

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) September 26, 2022

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Don't like Putin.

But I do like Snowden.

I can not fault Snowden for doing what he needed to do to protect himself and his family from the Western Left Deep State governments and organizations which seek to destroy him for merely letting Americans know they are being illegally spied on.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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Blah blah blah..... everyone who blows the whistle on the deep state is a traitor and criminal...... par the course for governments and international organizations who don't like their dirty tricks being exposed.

History will one day record Snowden as a hero. Assange too.

If they outed intelligence gathering OR agents that were weaponized against the American people, which both did, then it was necessary and appropriate.

I used to blindly trust the CIA, NSA, and FBI. Never again.

wbt5845 said:

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I listen to a podcast that had a series on him last week. I didn't realize there was a large segment of people who thought of him as a hero.

He is a traitor and criminal.

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For exposing the fact that the NSA and CIA WERE BREAKING THE LAW BY COLLECTING INFORMATION ON US CITIZENS WITHOUT A WARRANT?!?

Ummmmmm I thought the conservatives on this bord were supposed to be against the government doing things like that without a warrant.

Regardless of what I think of Snowden and I am ambivalent because of what he has done after he exposed that ****, the public needed to know.