Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room
Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.
40hz:
Killing Snowden would serve no objective or provide any operational benefit. The damage has already been done. Now it's more a matter of containment and spin control. (There is a rulebook of sorts in the intelligence community.) So I think assassination is completely off the table at this point.
I'd be inclined to declare the first match a stalemate. But this tournament is far from over.
Snowden's remaining at large, straddles the fence in that his continued freedom is an embarrassment to the Administration - but - his potential for being granted asylum provides several interesting new opportunities for the Administration down the road. And unless he lands in Russia or China, the Administration is likely to be very confident they can 'collect' him whenever they want. So what ultimately happens with that is largely dependent on whether the Machiavellian or Godfather mindset prevails in Washington over the next several weeks.
I think we're on a "bathroom and refresh your drinks break" right now while the new game board gets set up.
It should start to get interesting once this temporary state of affairs breaks and the next real move gets played. Because right now, all we're hearing is a lot of gradually cooling bluster and rhetoric.
Stay tuned! New match to start shortly...
dr_andus:
I'd be inclined to declare the first match a stalemate. But this tournament is far from over.
-40hz (July 10, 2013, 09:13 AM)
--- End quote ---
If we base the assessment on Snowden's declared original objectives, then it must be 1:0 in his favour, as he had managed to change public opinion on the issue despite all the spin, while the US government failed to apprehend him or stop him from leaking further information:
American voters say 55 - 34 percent that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower, rather than a traitor, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.
In a massive shift in attitudes, voters say 45 - 40 percent the government's anti-terrorism efforts go too far restricting civil liberties, a reversal from a January 10, 2010, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University when voters said 63 - 25 percent that such activities didn't go far enough to adequately protect the country.
"The massive swing in public opinion about civil liberties and governmental anti- terrorism efforts, and the public view that Edward Snowden is more whistle-blower than traitor are the public reaction and apparent shock at the extent to which the government has gone in trying to prevent future terrorist incidents," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
--- End quote ---
Renegade:
...Snowden's ongoing leaks continue to destabilise international relations...
-dr_andus (July 08, 2013, 05:05 AM)
--- End quote ---
Relationships based on lies, deception, and treachery. Sounds like they NEED some destabilisation.
How many marriages/relationships could tolerate that level of abuse?
40hz:
Renegade is back! :)
40hz:
I'd be inclined to declare the first match a stalemate. But this tournament is far from over.
-40hz (July 10, 2013, 09:13 AM)
--- End quote ---
If we base the assessment on Snowden's declared original objectives, then it must be 1:0 in his favour, as he had managed to change public opinion on the issue despite all the spin, while the US government failed to apprehend him or stop him from leaking further information:
American voters say 55 - 34 percent that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower, rather than a traitor, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.
In a massive shift in attitudes, voters say 45 - 40 percent the government's anti-terrorism efforts go too far restricting civil liberties, a reversal from a January 10, 2010, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University when voters said 63 - 25 percent that such activities didn't go far enough to adequately protect the country.
"The massive swing in public opinion about civil liberties and governmental anti- terrorism efforts, and the public view that Edward Snowden is more whistle-blower than traitor are the public reaction and apparent shock at the extent to which the government has gone in trying to prevent future terrorist incidents," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
--- End quote ---
-dr_andus (July 10, 2013, 09:59 AM)
--- End quote ---
It give us hope but it won't be enough in and of itself.
Especially since the Administration and DOJ just doubled down on FISA, executive privilege, State secrets, and all new legalisms to prevent whistleblowing on the government in the face of previous legislation forbidding such actions.
So as long as the Supreme Court continues to sit on the fence about this, it's going to continue.
Expect a very long list of executive pardons to be issued on the eve Obama leaves office. "Exit pardons" are a cute trick that worked for both Bush administrations, so why not?
Dark days ahead before there's even hope of seeing sunlight I'm afraid.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version