Not every social or political change is “necessary”, nor necessarily for the better of the people.
They might do now. But back in 2001 there were many, many Smaptis crawling out of the woodwork. We remember.
So do we but nevertheless… it took one of our guys to blow the whistle on them finally, even though countless other governments around the world were cooperating for many years.
If sabotaging efforts to cure contagious diseases does not count, there’s always bombing weddings, bombing funerals, bombing journalists, bombing teenagers and all those other war crimes that you claim would just disappear if we stopped being so impolite as to mention it when the people you carry water for murder civilians.
You say “blow the whistle”. I say “sell out his country and run away to a far more oppressive illiberal state to live off the Kremlin’s largesse while they slowly gobble up Europe”.
If only someone had the courage to expose the kremlin’s evil tactics to the world, maybe the Russian people would decide enough is enough.
So we’re in agreement that the actual injustices committed by Russia are worse than the imaginary injustices committed by the CIA, then.
The injustices committed by the CIA aren’t imaginary, your version of reality is.
Vaccinating people against polio is an injustice? Bringing Osama bin Laden to justice is an injustice?
Yes; now we are able to shut down the CIA’s sabotage of the effort, and might manage to wipe out polio despite their attempt to keep it alive.
That’s precisely what it did do.
A nice effort, but the classics are still the best:
So, how does the connection from timeline-Smapti (where Snowden actually booked a trip to Russia) and timeline-reality (where Snowden got stuck in Russia as the result of the US Government’s actions) work?
:eek: :eek: Holy crap…
Do you suppose that the US government would have been funding those doctors and making it possible for them to vaccinate people if not for the intelligence program? Unlikely. The CIA got people vaccinated who wouldn’t have been otherwise. That’s a net benefit to the entire world.
Facilitating terrorism and organized crime is patriotic now?
Snowden chose to make a fugitive of himself, and he chose to accept the Czar’s shilling. A patriot would have long since walked over to the US embassy and surrendered - if he had ever fled the country in the first place.
Who said anything about wealth? I love life more than I love liberty. I’d rather be alive and “licking the hands that feed me” than be dead and… nothing else, because then I wouldn’t exist anymore.
I am forming a mental image of life in Smaptistan… the armed forced decked out in their International Red Cross iconography, granting them immunity to enemy fire unless some traitor exposes the ruse… the tax-accounting offices where would-be clients are waterboarded until they reveal their real income, shaving away at the deficit as long as security is maintained… the citizens studiously turning away from the sight of some malcontent complaining about his restaurant bill, insuring absolute domestic tranquility provided that no snot-nosed kid yells that the emperor is naked…
Dere dere, da baaad tewwawist isn’t gonna steal your kidneys…
So Smapti has absolutely no concept of the value of privacy. Okay, I can understand that. I don’t agree, but it’s at least not completely without merit to rob privacy to serve safety. At least in principle. In practice… Well, Smapti, I think you’re a threat to national security. To prove that you aren’t, please install a webcam in your living room, dining room, bedroom, and bathroom. Keep them on at all times. I’ll be reviewing the livestream to ensure that you aren’t doing anything suspicious. I’ll also be opening all your mail.
…Sound like something you wouldn’t like? Huh. I thought you were totally okay with violating people’s privacy to prevent potential terrorism. :rolleyes:
P.S. this:
Still one of the craziest, dumbest things I’ve ever seen on this forum.
You have clearly never had to explain the concept of sales tax to a customer who doesn’t understand why the menu says $6.99 and his bill is for $7.65.