Snowden vs. Manning

[riqster]

http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/edward-snowden-vs-bradley-manning/
Snip:

"Your friendly neighborhood blogger doesn’t find either of them to be particurlarly admirable, but Manning at least acts like a man who believes in his cause.

Snowden just acts like a crook."

More at the link.

[Scuba]

1. Making spying and war crimes about Snowden and Manning is a clever diversion.

[riqster]

3. Not the intent

[Scuba]

10. Maybe not, but the effect is the same.

[riqster]

16. You are free to think so.

I know what I meant to say.

[cali]

11. bullpucky. you keep writing about Snowden but fail to address the actual issues.

[Life Long Dem]

2. A crook

who took off to China and Russia with everyone's phone call data and who knows what else.

[riqster]

5. Butbutbut...he's a hero!!!!

At least on DU.

[cali]

9. not quite. To many of us, he's not the issue. the issue is the stinking national security state

and the illegal actions of the NSA that he shined a light on.

[riqster]

13. What really hacks me off is

...how many people act like this is new information.

Manning exposed more new info than Snowden.

[sibelian]

18. Well, what do you want?

America spying on it's allies and behaving like a colossal teenager that freaks out when someone finds its secret diary or America behaving like a grown up and respecting the privacy of its citizens and those of other nations?

What do you want America to be? An adult or an adolescent jerk?

[riqster]

20. Not remotely related to my comment

America needs to ditch the Patriot Act and all of its bastard offspring.

But WE need to act like adults and remember that domestic surveillance has been a known fact for over a decade.

All we got from Snowden was a few new details, and people go bugfuck.

[Scuba]

17. Bingo.

[KurtNYC]

4. Well they should love Cheney then:

he exposed CIA agents (Wilson and Plame) and methods, went to an "undisclosed location" and then on with being VP.

[riqster]

6. Yep. If one is to break the law,

...it's best to be rich and powerful.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. The question is what does the pursuit of both whistleblowers make the US look like?

[riqster]

14. No argument there.

The fact that other countries such worse than us in this regard doesn't mean we don't also suck.

[cali]

8. thanks for that heaping helping of shit.

love how you hawk your lousy blog here at every turn.

actually, you don't really think that they're merely not particularly admirable, you think they're both scumbuckets.

First off: this writer considers both men (if tried and convicted, of course) to be stinking scum buckets who violated the terms of their employment and many other laws as well. Having said that, Manning seems a more genuine, if misguided, character than Snowden. Here’s why:

The national security state and massive surveillance apparently have a nifty little cheerleader in you.

Fuck the national security state. Fuck the contractors making billions off the national security state and fuck anyone supporting it in any way whatsoever.

[riqster]

15. Another well-crafted and insightful Cali post.

There are some things one can count on on this world, and your posts are one of them. FOUR, count 'em, four posts in a few moment's time that attack me personally with insults and profanity. I'd be offended if I weren't used to your behavior.

It is possible to oppose the Patriot Act and all of its bastard children and also think ill of apparently skanky individuals like Snowden.

Besides, anyone who was paying attention for the past decade or so already knew 90% of this information. At least, Snowden's leaks. Manning's were more revelatory.

Tomorrow's shitty blog post will point out WHY it is not a good idea to go haring off after bright shiny outrage objects like this one. No doubt you'll hate it too, but it's an opinion blog and I have no expectation that everyone (or perhaps anyone) will agree. That's the nature of the beastie.

[cali]

12. If only we could bring back the unrec button for one brief shining moment.

[msanthrope]

19. Note the lack of threads on Mr. Manning? In the midst of his trial, he has been

abandoned for the next Messiah.

[riqster]

21. Indeed.

As will Snowden, in due season. But the issues will live on.