# Why isn't this board talking about Edward Snowden? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775 "2013-06-24T12:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/61 "2013-06-25T02:26:07Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Because if you talk about Edward Snowden instead of the fact that the NSA hoovers up the metadata on every phone call and email, then the terrorists have already won. Seriously? The terrorists won a dozen years ago, when the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law. When airline passengers were denied the very least slightly dangerous object, including four ounces of hand lotion. When the president said to take your minds off it by going shopping. Really, the “war on terror” was lost _ipso facto_, by its very declaration. Every little thing just makes its abject failure that much more glaring and unpalatable. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/62 "2013-06-25T03:09:12Z")
Haven’t the faintest idea who Snowden is or why anyone would want to discuss him. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/63 "2013-06-25T10:06:40Z")
I can’t understand the SDMB’s response either, which seems to be: “I don’t care”, “I knew it”, “He’s an idiot” or “He’s a traitor”. Apathetic at best, maybe even siding with the government. I think he expected the same response as me, otherwise he wouldn’t have revealed this. To me, hearing about clandestine government surveillance makes me think of 1984 and Big Brother type stories. People worry about this all the time, yet when this really happened, they aren’t outraged, they even turn against the whistleblower? Maybe I’m generalising or mixing up posters, but to me, this is the board where people say, “I don’t use [Facebook](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693915) because they’ll steal my data!!!” But letting the government keep watch on you is ok? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/64 "2013-06-25T10:59:05Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I can’t understand the SDMB’s response either, which seems to be: “I don’t care”, “I knew it”, “He’s an idiot” or “He’s a traitor”. Apathetic at best, maybe even siding with the government. I think he expected the same response as me, otherwise he wouldn’t have revealed this. > > To me, hearing about clandestine government surveillance makes me think of 1984 and Big Brother type stories. People worry about this all the time, yet when this really happened, they aren’t outraged, they even turn against the whistleblower? Maybe I’m generalising or mixing up posters, but to me, this is the board where people say, “I don’t use [Facebook](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693915) because they’ll steal my data!!!” But letting the government keep watch on you is ok? I refer you to the post two above yours. We’re concerned that the government is spying on us but most of the vitriol about this happened when the USA PATRIOT Act passed. Many of us complained then that we were handing too much power to the government and that the spineless cowards in Congress were hurting the country. So now we see the result of that, and after a decade all we can muster is an “I told you so”. If you know a realistic way to get the Act repealed, do tell. But Snowden is still a twat. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/65 "2013-06-25T11:10:50Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > This isn’t a liberal vs conservative issue, congress is mostly united in their support of this data collection. IMO our leaders are working more for themselves and the military-industrial complex than us. Nah, the leaders are working for the people. It’s just that “the people” are actually not very concerned about Big Brother, as long as they are basically comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/66 "2013-06-25T11:14:24Z")
We an **neither** raving nationalists (_“Snowden is a traitor, KILL HIM WITH FIRE!”_), nor are we anti-government Conspiracy Nuts (_“Snowden is a hero for sticking to the Black Helicopter Aliens!!”_). BTW–I am not threatening Snowden, I am trying to parody loony radicals. It’s hard to separate parody for actual political positions, these days… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/67 "2013-06-25T11:26:23Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Maybe I’m generalising or mixing up posters,(snip) Probably. It’s worth noting that the original complaint wasn’t actually that no one was talking about it here. There were multiple threads about it. The thread was started bright and early Monday morning to ask why there hadn’t been any **new** threads about it since last week - and now in addition to this one, there are indeed additional new threads in GQ, MPSIMS, and probably elsewhere. I also don’t find it impossible to believe that some people would rather have the government monitoring them in the name of stopping terrorism than businesses monitoring them just to sell them products. And yes, as stated earlier, when this legislation has been around for over a decade and the vast majority of lawmakers - many of them faithfully re-elected by their constituents - voted in favor of it, it’s hard to figure out what to do that might actually have some real effect. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/68 "2013-06-25T11:39:11Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Haven’t the faintest idea who Snowden is or why anyone would want to discuss him. The first rule of Edward Snowden is you do not talk about Edward Snowden. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/69 "2013-06-25T11:51:14Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Haven’t the faintest idea who Snowden is or why anyone would want to discuss him. Congratulations on your emergence from a coma/a mine collapse/a deserted island as of this morning! You may wish to check out the news going on in the US if this nation interests you at all, as there have been some developments. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/70 "2013-06-25T12:14:26Z")
For me, it’s one of those things that is concerning on an abstract, intellectual level, but not an emotional one. Maybe because I’m naturally paranoid? I figured the government was already doing this and a lot more. Doesn’t mean I particularly like it, but it’s not shocking news for me. And I suppose that my apathy is also due to the fact that I keep a low profile and I’m not worried about being spied on. Not a great defense, but hey. Unless someone can get me jeeped up about it on a personal level, I can’t really help how I’m not feeling. Re Snowden. I’ve got mixed feelings. I think he could have gone about this in a less attention-whoring, more dignified way, though I’m finding the wild-goose-chase stuff kind of hilarious. But I’m also worried that this will encourage other disenchanted nerds to seek their heroic spotlight (and resulting reality TV shows) by releasing whatever classified information they feel the public wants to see. The government does have a right to keep some secrets in the name of security. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/71 "2013-06-25T12:39:48Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I can’t understand the SDMB’s response either, which seems to be: “I don’t care”, “I knew it”, “He’s an idiot” or “He’s a traitor”. Apathetic at best, maybe even siding with the government. I think he expected the same response as me, otherwise he wouldn’t have revealed this. Probably, but he is clearly an idiot. I don’t even understand how this guy with no real education or connections even got that job. Not to say he had access to much, because its fairly clear he didn’t. That said, he is a traitor and a coward. He knows the goverment can’t effectively defend itself becuase of the classified nature of these programs. It’s also kinda myopic of him to think the 3 pieces of the puzzle he saw tell the whole story. That, in short, is why heis such a piece of shit. Not only because of hs actions in this country, but his decision to basically do a world tour of every country that stands to benefit most from his decision to fuck us. Seriously, what kind of dumbfuck goes to China and Russia to escape oppressive government and restricted freedoms? Snowden didn’t reveal much we didn’t already know or assume. He did however give the Chinese and Russians valid counter arguments to our concerns about their cyber attacks on private companies here in the US. Of course China knew we did it anyway, but plausible deniability matters a lot. All this guy did was embolden their efforts to steal valuable R&D that will cost us money and jobs. > [@AaronX](#): > > To me, hearing about clandestine government surveillance makes me think of 1984 and Big Brother type stories. People worry about this all the time, yet when this really happened, they aren’t outraged, they even turn against the whistleblower? Maybe I’m generalising or mixing up posters, but to me, this is the board where people say, “I don’t use [Facebook](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693915) because they’ll steal my data!!!” But letting the government keep watch on you is ok? Because the reality is that ship sailed over a decade ago. I think most adults recognize that the choice is not between whether or not to have privacy, but rather if the routine public and private privacy intrusions will be in service of safety in addition to commerce, data mining, and advertisement. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/72 "2013-06-26T04:47:10Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > That said, he is a traitor and a coward. He knows the goverment can’t effectively defend itself becuase of the classified nature of these programs. It’s also kinda myopic of him to think the 3 pieces of the puzzle he saw tell the whole story. That, in short, is why heis such a piece of shit. Not only because of hs actions in this country, but his decision to basically do a world tour of every country that stands to benefit most from his decision to fuck us. Seriously, what kind of dumbfuck goes to China and Russia to escape oppressive government and restricted freedoms? Thanks for all the replies, I understand the outrage against him a little better now. Especially this, so that’s why people say he’s a traitor. But he isn’t cooperating with the Chinese yet, is he? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/73 "2013-06-26T06:59:42Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > That said, he is a traitor and a coward. or … the NSA are traitors for lying to Congress - elected representatives of the people - about the mass surveillance they conduct routinely and systematically on every citizen in the country. There is no difference between what the NSA do and having a policeman posted at your front door reading everything that is delivered to the house, writing down and assessing all your relationships, all your accounts and records, etc. Snowdon made you aware of that. Making a personality issue of it detracts from the issue: mass surveillance of the people by secrecy, without scrutiny. Who works and pays the salary of who here? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/74 "2013-06-26T07:06:44Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Not only because of hs actions in this country, but his decision to basically do a world tour of every country that stands to benefit most from his decision to fuck us. Seriously, what kind of dumbfuck goes to China and Russia to escape oppressive government and restricted freedoms? What on earth are you talking about? His entire issue is with the work of the NSA, what it does and what it means. He can’t tell the people of the US what is being done to their freedoms by the NSA from inside the US. He has no choice other than to try and avoid the US agencies that don’t want him to tell the people about the mass surveillance projects being created under Obama. You are, literally, under attack. Do your self a favour and think about who the real enemy is here. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/75 "2013-06-26T09:39:04Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Thanks for all the replies, I understand the outrage against him a little better now. Especially this, so that’s why people say he’s a traitor. But he isn’t cooperating with the Chinese yet, is he? I doubt he knows anything that the Chinese and Russians don’t already. His main use to them is to embarrass the US now and in future when the US brings up human rights abuses. He’s a tool in all sorts of ways. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/76 "2013-06-26T11:41:42Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > He has no choice other than to try and avoid the US agencies that don’t want him to tell the people about the mass surveillance projects being created under Obama. Being **created** under Obama? No. This shit’s been going on for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/77 "2013-06-26T12:19:18Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Being **created** under Obama? No. This shit’s been going on for a long time. The capacity for genuinely mass surveillance did not exist prior to Obama. > **[Utah Data Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center)** > > The Utah Data Center (UDC), also known as the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, is a data storage facility for the United States Intelligence Community that is designed to store data estimated to be on the order of exabytes or larger. Its purpose is to support the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI), though its precise mission is classified. The National Security Agency (NSA) leads operations at the facility as the exec Critics ... ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/78 "2013-06-26T12:20:38Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Here’s some news: [Did he troll a bunch of journalists](http://gawker.com/snowden-snow-job-leaker-fools-reporters-on-to-cuba-fli-555021969) into getting stuck on a 12-hour flight to Cuba with no alcoholic beverage service and then having to stay in Cuba for at least 3 days? Plus there’s no real evidence he even went to Moscow other than the word of a single passenger. Love it, if he did 🙂 Personally, I’m not talking about him, because most of the threads I start sink without a trace. Even if I bump them… ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/79 "2013-06-26T12:22:02Z")
I’m not talking a lot about Snowden because, well honestly. I don’t know that I know all I need to know in order to make a definitive statement. I get the the whole “he’s spilling our secrets, so he’s a traitor” thing, and at the same time, I kinda feel that what he “spilled” needed to be exposed to the sunlight a bit. Yes, it’s going on, and we all know it’s going on, but if we all just stop thinking about it, it’s still festering away in the darkness. I generally support Obama and the Democrats, but not blindly. I have concerns about the drone program, and I have concerns about activity of the NSA, CIA, etc. And, I’ll confess, I kinda hope he gets away. I like a good adventure, an on the lam story if you will. If he is being held up as the worst kind of national criminal, I got a list of names I’d put in front of him. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775/80 "2013-06-26T12:54:19Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > The capacity for genuinely mass surveillance did not exist prior to Obama. > > [Utah Data Center - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center) The article you linked says this facility won’t be open until September, so by your reasoning, no “genuinely” mass surveillance is being performed at all currently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-this-board-talking-about-edward-snowden/661775.md?page=5)