General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Putin Tells NSA Leaker Snowden There’s No Mass Surveillance In Russia (updated) [View all]ProSense
(116,464 posts)"I'm comparing questions and answers. Snowden asked a similar question of Putin about mass surveillance in Russia and was answered with (to put it mildly) an evasive answer. Reporters have asked Obama similar questions about NSA mass surveillance and were answered with (to put it mildly) evasive answers. "
...you're engaging in false equivalencies to deny the fact that Snowden made a big-ass fool of himself.
Not only is comparing Snowden to an MSM reporter beyond silly, but also the attempt to equate the two situations is lame as a defense.
Snowden had a choice: play Putin's fool or not. If he did it volutarily he's a fool for taking the opportunity to ask a lame-ass question that everyone knows the answer to. If he participated in a staged event, he's a tool.
Putin's answer wasn't "evasive" he flat out denied that Russia is engaged in surveillance.
Equivalent would be Obama announcing a press conference, and you calling in (voluntarily or involuntarily, meaning the WH stage this) and asking if the NSA exists. Obama responds, no.
Snowden made a friggin fool of himself, and the lame attempts to spin it any other way are telling. Greenwald's, though, is classic.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024833461#post29