CPAC vs SXSW : Edward Snowden becoming the Face of Leadership in America

[Luminous Animal]

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/edward-snowden-leader

(Emphasis mine)

In Washington D.C., Sarah Palin delivered the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

She literally read a children’s book to adults to raucous applause. It was a modified Dr. Seuss book that she got from an email chain letter.

In that other movement, there are meetings like the one today at SXSW. They talked about the complexities of data collection — and how to synthesize it, transparently, for good. It was about exposing data collection programs to scrutiny — to uncover abuse — so it can only be used for people, not against them. It was about, as Snowden said today, “how do you interpret (these communications), how do you understand them.”

All this tech talk is, invariably, filled with compassion.

It’s no longer a question of if we will or will not have a better America. It’s a question of how long it will take the younger and brighter and better to drown out the institution that is impeding American progress with grade school debate, bullying and pettiness. It’s a question of when they will be able to communicate to America that they are the only chance at a productive future.

Those communicators are just starting to surface now. Bill Nye is viewed as a cult hero because we allowed him into our classrooms with VHS tapes, then he refined and strengthened and sharpened his message as we refined and strengthened and sharpened along with him. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, one of the world’s first pop-astrophysicists, debuted a show last night solely about how our world was created. That show was the third-highest rated show on television last night.

[ProSense]

1. Really?

"Edward Snowden becoming the Face of Leadership in America"

This guy?

Edward Snowden called into a panel at South by Southwest today. He was somewhere in Russia, still on the lam from a United States government that views him as a traitor and wants him imprisoned for it, and he was answering questions from the public, on camera, for the first time.

Do Americans know? LOL!

Pew poll: Public Split over Impact of NSA Leak, But Most Want Snowden Prosecuted
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023036390

CNN Poll: Majority give Snowden thumbs down

A CNN/ORC International survey released Monday morning indicates that 52% of the public disapproves of Edward Snowden's actions, with 44% saying they approve of the leaks by the former government contractor who worked for the National Security Agency.

<...>

"Younger Americans are less likely than older Americans to call for the U.S. government to prosecute Snowden," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "More than half of Americans over the age of 34 think Snowden should be extradited and prosecuted, but younger Americans are evenly divided. There are no major age differences on the question of whether Americans approve of Snowden's actions, so it seems that there is a generation gap on punishment, but not on the leaks themselves."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/17/cnn-poll-majority-give-snowden-thumbs-down/

As you may know, details of the government collection of phone records and internet data were revealed when a former government contractor named Edward Snowden leaked classified information about those government programs to two newspapers. Do you approve or disapprove of Snowden's actions?

18 to 34

Approve: 45 percent
Disapprove: 52 percent


Do you think the U.S. government should or should not attempt to bring Snowden back to this country and prosecute him for leaking that information?

All

Should 54 percent
Should not 42 percent

18 to 34

Should 49 percent
Should not 48 percent

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/06/17/rel7a.pdf


January 2014:

There is little disagreement on the matter across party lines. Majorities of Democrats (59 percent), Republicans (56 percent) and a plurality of independents (48 percent) said Snowden should be charged.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/01/02/clemency-for-edward-snowden-the-public-is-skeptical

[Luminous Animal]

2. How ACLU Attorney Ben Wizner Became Snowden't Lawyer. ("the work of a lifetime")

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/03/10/how-aclu-attorney-ben-wizner-became-snowdens-lawyer/

Wizner calls Snowden’s case “the work of a lifetime.” “I had spent ten years before this trying to bring lawsuits against the intelligence community,” says Wizner. But he was often prevented from doing so in courts, in some cases because he or his clients didn’t have “standing,” or proof that their rights had been violated.


“In my first conversation with Snowden, one of his first questions for me was, ‘Do you have standing now?’” says Wizner. “The first document from the Guardian was about Verizon handing over the metadata for millions of its customers. One of its customers was the ACLU and he gave us a ticket to federal court. A lot of the work I’d done pointed to this moment, led up to this meeting of Snowden and the ACLU. We’ve been banging our head against the wall for nine years and now the wall’s not there.”

Wizner calls this an “unusual legal representation.” The legal team also includes Jesselyn Radack, a well-known advocate for whistleblowers; Wolfgang Kalek in Europe; as well as criminal attorneys and experts in asylum law. “We have had to balance all along what’s best for Edward Snowden in terms of his being able to live freely and participate in this debate, and also what will facilitate and not interfere with the democratic debate his disclosures have set off,” says Wizner. In the last week, Snowden appeared virtually at South by Southwest to talk to techies in Texas and submitted testimony to the E.U. Parliament.

[WillyT]

3. Thank You For That !!!

[Luminous Animal]

4. My pleasure Willie T! I particularly like this from the OP...

"It’s no longer a question of if we will or will not have a better America. It’s a question of how long it will take the younger and brighter and better to drown out the institution that is impeding American progress with grade school debate, bullying and pettiness. It’s a question of when they will be able to communicate to America that they are the only chance at a productive future."

Much of this debate evokes emotions that I felt during the 60s and 70s... both the elation of supporting activists and their ideas as a child and and then taking action to make a better world as a tween/teen; and the onslaught of personal invective and smears against the boldest and bravest.

[WillyT]

5. I Like That VERY Much !!!

[Luminous Animal]

6. Kick.

[Luminous Animal]

7. Kick.

[treestar]

8. lolololololololol

leadership in America can take place from exile in Moscow! who would ever have thought it!

[ProSense]

9. Well,

consider who he's being compared to.

In Washington D.C., Sarah Palin delivered the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

She literally read a children’s book to adults to raucous applause. It was a modified Dr. Seuss book that she got from an email chain letter.

They have Russia in common: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024635474