Snowden is a criminal on the run, needs to be captured, and brought back to face justice.

[RBInMaine]

The NSA matter is total hype. No one is being listened in on without a court order. This program was in place for years and before Obama took office, and his administration has scrubbed it up. Oversight is and has been in place. There are checks and balances. This is the post-9/11 world. We just had people killed and maimed in Boston for goodness sake.

Snowden broke federal law with this leak. He needs to be brought back to face justice. If convicted, he needs to do some serious time.

[Arctic Dave]

1. I won't tell if I see him.

Hope he keeps it on the down low.

[NightWatcher]

2. I'd be surprised if BAH hasn't dispatched crews to find him

They can operate outside US law abroad.

[discopants]

5. I would think BAH is lawyering up right now

Because they're probably going to get dragged into court and lose their contracts.

[NightWatcher]

7. They won't lose any contracts

I've seen many contracts renewed when the contractor is out of specs (usually for timeliness or production).

[Tx4obama]

12. Snowden said he was deciding to leak before the Nov 2008 election - he wasn't at BAH back then

He was only at Booz for three months 'this year'.


Snowden said he was thinking about leaking the info 'before' the Nov 2008 election, and then decided to wait to see what Obama would do after/if he was elected.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57588462/snowden-leak-of-nsa-spy-programs-marks-my-end/?pageNum=2

-snip-

He later went to work for the CIA as an information technology employee and by 2007 was stationed in Geneva, Switzerland, where he had access to classified documents.

During that time, he considered going public about the nation's secretive programs but told the newspaper he decided against it, because he did not want to put anyone in danger and he hoped Obama's election would curtail some of the clandestine programs.

-snip-

[arcane1]

28. Wait, what? His info is from 2007?

I can't be the only one who has no idea WTF this whole Snowden thing is all about. Heck, I haven't even been able to find what his actual claims are

[randome]

3. You just don't understand, do you? He says he has nothing to hide.

Case closed!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[lob1]

4. If everyone knew all this, why prosecute Snowden? For reminding Us?

[pnwmom]

33. For passing on classified documents, to which he had special access

as a result of his job, to persons who were not authorized to receive the documents.

He should be prosecuted for breaking the law against such a release.

[LondonReign2]

6. Hmmmm...

If the program is total hype, totally legal, perfectly permissible, is old news, oversight is in place, there are checks and balances, and the President is proud of his program and defending it publicly....

Why are you so angry that Snowden revealed it?

[DirkGently]

16. It's all baloney! But still a horrific crime to mention!

Doesn't quite compute.

[djean111]

29. Thank you. That is what I am wondering, too.

Why the anger? Why the rush to smear Snowden?
No matter what he did, by the way, i find the delving into his family life and social life pretty stupid and pointless.
"His girlfriend is an acrobat!!!!!!!!" WTF? Who thought that was news or illuminating or anything?

[pnwmom]

34. He broke the law requiring that classified documents not be passed on

to unauthorized recipients.

[Sheepshank]

42. It's legal for a Dr to collect your personal helath and psych info.

It's also legal for that Dr.to share it with other Dr's upon your approval.

It's NOT ok to give or sell that info to the media to publish it and let the public have access to that info.

Does that make sense, given your question?

[rightsideout]

8. RUN SNOWDEN RUN!!!!

Under this new surveillance culture we aren't United States Citizens, we're all potential terrorists. LOL.

Yea, we did have people maimed and killed in Boston and all this data mining business didn't prevent it. There were signs of trouble but they weren't followed through on. What it comes down to, is good ole fashion police work and sharing information with other other agencies and governments. That's more effective then recording call times among US citizens and pumping billions into giant servers.

I imagine you were OK with the Patriot Act. I sure wasn't. It just escalates from one form of surveillance to another. The government isn't going to trust you more because you back their paranoia. None of us can be trusted according to them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Please link to the court order(s) in full naming the suspects by name.

No one is being listened in on without a court order.

[BlueCheese]

10. Three people were killed in the Boston bombing.

To prevent that the government has to collect the phone records of every single American? That seems like an overreaction. (Especially given that all that collection didn't prevent the attack.)

And if the program was so public and so well-regulated, why was it so secret? Why is Snowden now an Enemy of the State?

[Tx4obama]

15. I think one of the main points is to have access to the info after an attack

The tele-coms delete all of their info after 30 to 90 days - if the NSA didn't get the info to save then it would be completely gone.


So, using Boston as an example...

After a terrorist does something and they know his name they can go into the NSA meta-database and search to see who that person has communicated in the past in order to see if there are other people in the cell.

If the data is not stored/save by someone then there would be no way to go back and collect info the investigation.

[BlueCheese]

21. Are you sure about that?

I feel like I can access my old phone bills online for more than 30 to 90 days. In any case, does the NSA delete the data after a certain amount of time? Or as time goes on, will they have 10+ years of data?

[Tx4obama]

24. Sure about the tele-coms deleting the call data? Yeah, that's what they've been saying on the news.

Probably the actual phone 'bills' are not the same as the 'call info' data: the numbers dialed and received and length of calls.
The meta-databases collect the 'call info' - not how much the telephone company charges you.

As far as NSA, I haven't heard how long they keep 'em before deleting the old ones.

[marions ghost]

41. What assurances do we have that

what the companies are saying is true?

Nada. The government is supposed to protect us against the abuses and lies of corporations. But those days are gone.

[freshwest]

44. The billing records exist a while, but the conversations, unless they've changed since the 80's

are dumped within 48-72 hours.

If you were getting hassled on your line, you had to call and request a tap. Then call right after the next call to get them to keep it for LE. And it had to be really bad to get to that point.

The telecos don't care about the content of your calls, they don't have the storage for it and are not getting paid for that. The system is set to get paid for service and move on. Your bills and voice - the fear of them listening to you - are different things altogether.

[pnwmom]

35. There are much bigger threats out there than the Boston bombers, or even 9/11.

The President has to try to prevent attacks by people armed with dirty nuclear bombs, and biological and chemical weapons.

[Fumesucker]

11. Torturers are also criminals

I wonder when they will be brought to face justice?

[former9thward]

13. And people thought Nixon was dead.

You would have been screaming for Daniel Ellsberg to be shot on sight. He Broke The Law!

[whatchamacallit]

14. I might as well be reading FR

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. +1

[idwiyo]

36. +2

[DirkGently]

17. DOJ was still breaking the law in 2011. They just won't tell us

how.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/justice-department-prism_n_3405101.html

A 2011 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling found the U.S. government had unconstitutionally overreached in its use of a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The National Security Agency uses the same section to justify its PRISM online data collection program. But that court opinion must remain secret, the Justice Department says, to avoid being "misleading to the public."

The DOJ was responding to a lawsuit filed last year by the Electronic Frontier Foundation seeking the release of a 2011 court opinion that found the government had violated the Constitution and circumvented FISA, the law that is supposed to protect Americans from surveillance aimed at foreigners.

The DOJ had been given a Friday deadline to submit the filing, well before the revelation of the PRISM program's existence in The Washington Post and The Guardian on Thursday.

The part of the FISA law addressed in the opinion in question, Section 702, is the same one the NSA is now using to scoop up email and social media records through its PRISM program.

[bananas]

19. Daniel Ellsberg too!

[DisgustipatedinCA]

20. Would you like to see him have an open trial?

[The Link]

22. They should drone his ass. Its legal. Punish him.

[Iggo]

23. Fuck yeah!

Drone his ass. Droning Americans is totally legal. Obama admin says so. Or torture that motherfucker! Bush admin told me that's legal, too!

If it's legal, it's always the right thing to do.

Fuck yeah!

[The Link]

25. Some uncategorized combatants may get killed in the process..

but who gives a shit. They probably didn't finish high school either.

[QC]

26. !!!

[2naSalit]

27. ...

Bed Bath and Beyond!

That was good.

[Jamaal510]

30. Karen Finney brought up

what I thought was a good point on Hayes' show a couple hours ago, when she had essentially asked why there hasn't been this much attention being paid to phone companies being able to track people's whereabouts. Pretty much anybody nowadays can track other people's whereabouts, not just the government.
I just think it's pretty frightening that this guy was able to even obtain access to this type of information in the first place.

[LondonReign2]

32. Yay spying!

Well shit, if the phone companies can track my whereabouts it must be totally awesome for the government to record every phone call, internet connection, and electronic purchase I make, amiright? I for one look forward to the day T-Mobile can arrest me.

"I just think it's pretty frightening that this guy was able to even obtain access to this type of information in the first place."

You understand that that was his fucking job, right? And if he could access it, many many many others are also privy to every single thing you do, right?

[morningfog]

31. Long may you run, Snowden. Long may you run! And thank you.

I hope one thousand like him follow. More sunlight, please!

[Harmony Blue]

37. Snowden is a hero

and some on DU will have to accept that fact.

[Major Hogwash]

38. Maybe Glenn will represent him in court.

That will turn out well, yeah, uh-huh.

[Fire Walk With Me]

39. If "Underground" democrats are this far to the Right, I wonder

how even further right are the mainstream?

[davidpdx]

40. What are you talking about?

He should get a parade thrown in his honor (*cough*), a street named after him, and an appointment with a high level security clearance at the NSA.

[Douglas Carpenter]

43. if this NSA matter is total hype and there is nothing to it that everyone didn't already know then

Snowden didn't really release anything except hype that everyone already knew about - so if that's the case - then he didn't really harm anything or betray any secrets either, right? If what you say is true - then other than drawing a bunch of attention - he didn't really do anything wrong, did he?

[KharmaTrain]

46. Lots Of Smoke...

...but very little fire here other than another media and DU feeding frenzy. I'm more concerned about my other half giving me grief about the calls I make on my cell bill than some doofus in a secret room half a world away. The ugly truth is all types of information about our lives are datamined by corporate and government entities and this "revelation" is years...even decades too late. Technology has redefined "privacy" so that any electronic signal, once it leaves your home becomes public. This is also the case any time you use a credit card or write a check or drive a government licensed car on a public road past a camera. Your information is bought and sold constantly...anyone who is intent on building a dossier doesn't need to go far to find out more about you than you will feel comfortable knowing they know.

The positive that possibly can be gleamed here is that this revelation and the ensuing outrage will lead to hearing and investigations into how far and deep the NSA and other government and private entities can dig into our private lives. It can unravel an underground network that has been growing over the past 12 years and maybe it will force some accountability.

As far as Snowden...I don't see him as either a hero or villain...just another player in a game of politics. I would like him to testify in a Congressional investigation of how he was able to gain access to the information he did...not jail. We need a new Church committee to look into how out of control the "security" state has become and then pinpoint ways to put controls on it. Unfortunately that requires working with a dysfunctional Congress...