Whistleblowers are the conscience of society, yet suffer gravely

Re:Whistleblowers are the conscience of society, yet suffer ... by kelnos on Sunday April 30, 2023 @08:13PM (#35767762)

In that case, would you agree if we modified the GP's statement to say:

"The existence of, and participation in, FVEY is espionage against the people of the United States."

If so, then presumably all the arguments against it are still valid, no? Assuming we can agree that "treason against the people of the United States" and "espionage against the people of the United States" are at least in the same ballpark of badness?

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Re:Whistleblowers are the conscience of society, yet suffer ... by George83728 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @09:32PM (#35768238)

> "The existence of, and participation in, FVEY is espionage against the people of the United States." If so, then presumably all the arguments against it are still valid, no?

No, because again, these crimes have meanings defined by law which you can't simply replace with a meaning derived from the layperson understanding of the word. To argue that Five Eyes is the illegal kind of espionage, you'd have to argue that it actually violates the Espionage Act. Merely fitting it to the colloquial meaning of 'espionage' isn't sufficient.

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