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In reply to the discussion: You won't see Hillary Clinton in the same light ever again [View all]karynnj
(59,556 posts)Bernie Sanders, the sponsor of a single payer bill, in 2009 said there were no more than TEN votes for single payer. Sixty were needed. It was not going to happen. As to renewing the Patriot Act, the Patriot Act was amended in 2007 and again under Obama. When it was first passed, Russ Feingold, the only Senator to vote against it, said he agreed with 85% of it. One question is how much of what troubled Feingold was amended in 2007 and in the next bill.
As to "retribution" that is a very odd word to use when the Justice Department or the military charges someone for breaking the law. There is no doubt that Chelsea Manning broke the law as a member of the military. I suspect that had she stopped with JUST releasing the footage that showed war crimes, there could have been a far better defense. Releasing every piece of raw state department information is not defensible.
As to Snowden, it looks like he purposely took the position he did to intentionally gain access to secrets and to share them. You may think this was heroic, but there is no doubt it broke the law.
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