Re:Demonizing Edward Snowden
by mikeash on Tuesday June 25, 2013 @11:40AM
(#5940240)
What really blows me away is the people who say that Snowden's motivations must be selfish, because he hasn't turned himself in the way a whistleblower ought to. He's not looking out for the American public, they say, he's just looking out for himself.
It makes no sense. If he was looking out for himself, why would he do anything but keep his high-paid contract with the NSA and go to work like the rest of us? It's a much better life than hopping the world trying to stay one step ahead of the US Government, where the best possible outcome involves accepting political asylum and eventual obscurity in a foreign country.
Yet this is an actual thing that real people getting lots of media time have said in a serious manner.
It's obvious that there is simply no thought involved in this whole business, not at the top, not at the bottom, not anywhere in between. The reactions are purely emotional.
It makes no sense. If he was looking out for himself, why would he do anything but keep his high-paid contract with the NSA and go to work like the rest of us? It's a much better life than hopping the world trying to stay one step ahead of the US Government, where the best possible outcome involves accepting political asylum and eventual obscurity in a foreign country.
Yet this is an actual thing that real people getting lots of media time have said in a serious manner.
It's obvious that there is simply no thought involved in this whole business, not at the top, not at the bottom, not anywhere in between. The reactions are purely emotional.