U.S. whistleblower Snowden gets a Russian passport

What he got away with here, he won’t get away with there.

Snowden might be a guest of the kremlin, but nothing is free, especially when Putin is your host.

We’re saving him a seat in Leavenworth. Some day his protectors will be gone and we will not have forgotten.

NemoToday  01:19 pm JST

We’re saving him a seat in Leavenworth. Some day his protectors will be gone and we will not have forgotten

Seagal.

Snowden.

Trump.

Sputniks, all.

So when is Trump going to get his Russian citizenship? he is not an American.

Snowden should be punished for what he did, but it should be recognized that he also helped the entire world understand what the US govt was doing, some of it illegal. He leaked the sensitive information to reputable news organizations which are a critical part of the way that US govt oversight works. Investigative news reporters are critical to ensuring govts don't do things their people don't like.

I thank Snowden for this and his sacrifice. Too bad he has to live under an authoritarian and repressive govt, likely for the rest of his life, but it is better than spending 20-50 yrs in a US federal prison. Biden should pardon Snowden, but only announce it after he leaves Russia with his wife and can continue on to a free country. Don't think I'd return to the US, if I were him, but Uruguay is a nice place that is easy to live, has friendly neighbors and off the path just enough that he'd be left alone.

Snowden exposed the government for spying on the people, the very thing the right claims is an infringement of their right to freedom from government oppression, yet they are the ones who condemn him the loudest. Can anyone explain this discrepancy?

Vilified for exposing American crimes?

 Don't think I'd return to the US, if I were him, but Uruguay is a nice place that is easy to live, has friendly neighbors and off the path just enough that he'd be left alone.

Snowden was thinking seriously about asylum in Ecuador, but the Obama administration was making damn sure he couldn't do that with safe passage to Ecuador because he'd be flying in international airspace first, making Snowden vulnerable to a foreign (US) interception.

Now this renegade turncoat is a Russian now. But if he ever does leave his new country, he'd better watch his ass because like what many of you said - he's a fugitive and there's a cell in Leavenworth awaiting him.

Snowden exposed the government for spying on the people, the very thing the right claims is an infringement of their right to freedom from government oppression, yet they are the ones who condemn him the loudest. Can anyone explain this discrepancy?

The US govt doesn't have laws against the US govt spying outside the USA. So none of the relevations of outside spying are illegal.

What is illegal for the USgovt is any spying on anyone inside the US. The law is :

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

So, with probable cause sufficient to get a judge to agree on the specific location and the specific items expected to be found, searching is allowed. The way the NSA was hoovering all data and voice communications without any warrants that were to/from people located inside the US is the illegal aspect. The NSA has taken the stance that gathering the information, but not searching it doesn't violate that law. Most other people disagree. Again, this is for anyone inside the USA, not just US citizens. In the US, rights aren't different for legal protection based on the status of the person, except at border entry/exit locations (unfortunately).

Similarly, Canada, UK, and other country's govts spy on the US citizens and can legally provide leads to US law enforcement that local law enforcement cannot legally see, without probable cause first. This loophole is part of the reason that the 5-eyes member countries have such trust. Of course, tapping the communications of high ranking elected political officials is unacceptable among friends, regardless of who does it. When the US tapped the German Chancelor's phone, that wasn't ok. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/12/germany-drops-inquiry-into-claims-nsa-tapped-angela-merkels-phone Eventually, Germany decided to stop looking into the breach. Hopefully, they've setup more secure communications since that happened.

Great news. Now give Assange one.

Snowden exposed the government for spying on the people, the very th

Agreed, and then instead of standing up and taking a stand he ran right to our adversaries, who no doubt squeezed the very last drop of intel out of him.

So he didn’t change bunk. He made out illiberal adversaries stronger by revealing secrets, all to save his own skin.

Leavenworth awaits.