# Your Opinion On Snowden Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274 "2015-04-22T10:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/41 "2015-04-23T00:24:46Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Why, it’s almost as if that’s an entirely different thing than what Snowden did. Not really considering we are sadly in a quasi war with terrorist groups and just completed an actual war and may feel the need to help the UN intervene in many other areas where terrorist groups threat world stability and general peace, you know, like ISIS. Snowden is a traitor, but that does not mean you are wrong to sympathize with him. But he is still traitor, I can’t support his actions but I can at least understand those that do. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/42 "2015-04-23T00:28:24Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > As it should have. Silly. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/43 "2015-04-23T00:38:22Z")
I don’t think he’s a hero or a traitor. He comes across as a not terribly bright guy who refuses to fix his glasses. More seriously, he fucked himself over for no good reason. He could have accomplished his goals without becoming a fugitive. His acolytes, though. Gah, what bunch of naive and tiresome boneheads. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/44 "2015-04-23T02:44:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In what way? Did Snowden _not_ steal an inordinate amount of national security data and turn it over to the press without going through it, then defect to an enemy state? No. Next stupid attempt to evade the issue…? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/45 "2015-04-23T02:46:17Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There was a better way for Snowden to handle his concerns. [Not so.](http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Interview-the-original-NSA-whistleblower) ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/46 "2015-04-23T04:21:29Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [Not so.](http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Interview-the-original-NSA-whistleblower) 😕 An interesting article about the program but at most it only has small relevance to the options available or not available to Snowden to address the issue. Binney, in fact, demonstrates another way. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/47 "2015-04-23T04:37:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The people have decided that the government should have the power to keep secrets. Snowden violated that agreement. Snowden’s whole point was that, no, actually, we hadn’t. He exposed a violation of US law. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/48 "2015-04-23T04:39:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You were consulted on Election Day. No, he was not, and neither were you. ---
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/49 "2015-04-23T06:32:54Z")
/Begin stereotyping I wonder if Americans, more so than other countries, like their heroes to be unambiguously good guys. Snowdon broke the law to deliver a bunch of documents which, whilst confirming a lot of what was suspected about US government spying, didn’t contain a smoking gun of government evil. Certainly he didn’t reveal anything that created a personalised bad guy for people to hate instead. If there was a bad guy, he’d be a good guy. No bad guy? Well, here’s this somewhat inept contractor who broke some laws, revealed some murky but hard to understand secrets, and went to Russia. How do we classify him? Good guy or bad guy? He’s not wearing a uniform, and the people in uniforms are saying he’s a bad guy. Must be a bad guy then. /End stereotyping ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/50 "2015-04-23T10:46:40Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Snowden’s whole point was that, no, actually, we hadn’t. He exposed a violation of US law. He handed over classified national security information to our enemies. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/51 "2015-04-23T11:39:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He handed over classified national security information to our enemies. No more so than to Americans and their allies. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/52 "2015-04-23T11:44:18Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Snowden’s whole point was that, no, actually, we hadn’t. He exposed a violation of US law. He may have exposed things you don’t agree with, but I can’t think of anything he’s revealed that actually broke a law. If anything, his main point are that laws are too deferential to the government. What law are you thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/53 "2015-04-23T12:24:02Z")
Do people in the US still really think in terms of “enemies”? The word itself sounds pretty odd. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/54 "2015-04-23T12:41:50Z")
When you view the world in simplistic terms and inapt analogies, “friends” and “enemies” is all you can really understand. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/55 "2015-04-23T12:56:13Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Binney, in fact, demonstrates another way. Er, no. What he demonstrates is that “going through the system” _doesn’t work_, and that calls to do so are simply attempts to make the issue go away without addressing it, a la Mitt Romney’s [“quiet rooms”](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/01/romney-quiet-rooms.html). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/56 "2015-04-23T15:40:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > No more so than to Americans and their allies. Is it OK to give the bomb schematics to the Nazis because you also gave them to New Zealand? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/57 "2015-04-23T15:57:27Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Er, no. What he demonstrates is that “going through the system” _doesn’t work_, … Again, let’s be factual here. Whether Snowden ever tried to “go through the system” is highly doubtful. [link.](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/nsa-inspector-general-edward-snowden-103949.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/58 "2015-04-23T15:58:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Is it OK to give the bomb schematics to the Nazis because you also gave them to New Zealand? Do yourself and everyone else a big favour and stop trying to use analogies. You suck at them. Either give factual examples of demostrable harm done to a single American as a result of Snowden revealing NSA’s programs or stop with the histrionics. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/59 "2015-04-23T16:09:42Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Do yourself and everyone else a big favour and stop trying to use analogies. You suck at them. Either give factual examples of demostrable harm done to a single American as a result of Snowden revealing NSA’s programs or stop with the histrionics. The Supreme Court has ruled that no American has been able to demonstrate that the NSA’s programs have harmed them in any way. So, there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274/60 "2015-04-23T16:25:43Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Either give factual examples of demostrable harm done to a single American as a result of Snowden revealing NSA’s programs or stop with the histrionics. Revealing classified programs is inherently harmful to all Americans. Is it OK to give the bomb schematics to the Nazis because you also gave them to New Zealand? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-on-snowden-poll/718274.md?page=4)