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A comment on Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama To Pardon Edward Snowden. Parent comment

Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by argonaut on Saturday January 14, 2017 @06:21AM (#13397946)
This may be hard to believe on Hacker News, and you and I might think it's wrong, but most Americans do not like Snowden. They've done opinion polls and more than 60% of Americans have a negative opinion of Snowden. Very very few think he's a hero.

Politicians want him home for a public trial. But if there's a secret trial or he's assassinated, there will be outrage in certain circles (ACLU/journalists), but he won't be a huge martyr.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/edward-snowde...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/edward-snowden-rasmussen-po...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by peteretep on Saturday January 14, 2017 @07:04AM (#13398046)
I'm not sure there's as strong a correlation between current opinion of a public figure, and the degree to which their death becomes a cause célèbre.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by argonaut on Saturday January 14, 2017 @07:41AM (#13398146)
Do you have historical American counterexamples?

Regardless, while assassination maybe would be a cause celebre, almost certainly a trial would be politically popular.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by peteretep on Saturday January 14, 2017 @08:26AM (#13398276)
Lincoln: "It was only with his death that Lincoln's popularity soared. Lincoln was slain on Good Friday, and pastors who had for four years criticized Lincoln from their pulpits rewrote their Easter Sunday sermons to remember him as an American Moses who brought his people out of slavery but was not allowed to cross over into the Promised Land"

From: http://www.civilwar.org/hallowed-ground-magazine/unpopular-m...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by argonaut on Saturday January 14, 2017 @09:01PM (#13401910)
Citing a 150 year old example is hardly a compelling case. And Lincoln had other things going for him. Like the fact that he was president. If Trump died I'm sure his opinion polls would go up too.
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Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by peteretep on Saturday January 14, 2017 @09:24PM (#13401973)
If you're going to ask for historical examples, don't complain you're given historical examples.
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Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by argonaut on Sunday January 15, 2017 @09:16AM (#13404049)
I stand by my point that if the only example you can find is 150 years old (and also has literally no similarities to Snowden - e.g. it wasn't even a government assassination or an enemy of the govt), you don't have much of a case.
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Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by lettergram on Saturday January 14, 2017 @11:00AM (#13398946)
You only need a small minority to believe something. If they believe it loud enough they will create a ruckus.

Then the government will have to actually prove all the character assassination attempts. Even though there is no evidence they really have against him at this point. I mean, in terms of being a Russian spy, or an alcoholic or something.

Also, remember these are the same pollsters who had Hillary winning the election...

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Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by argonaut on Saturday January 14, 2017 @09:04PM (#13401921)
No, they don't have to prove any of the character assasination attempts. They just have to prove Snowden committed a crime, which even Snowden has admitted to.
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Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by icebraining on Saturday January 14, 2017 @11:53AM (#13399252)
Also, remember these are the same pollsters who had Hillary winning the election...

No, polls said "more people will vote for Hillary than Trump" - and they were right. The failure was of the journalists and pundits interpreting that as a win.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Letter From Human Rights Leaders Asking President Obama T... by chillwaves on Saturday January 14, 2017 @06:31AM (#13397967)
And I think this is ultimately why Obama will not pardon him, because they think it will hurt the democrats politically. Time and again, both sides pick politics over.. anything.
[ Parent | on HN ]