The guy who leaked controversial NSA programs is not who you would expect...

[UNCG Deac]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_t...tleblower_have_access_to_prism_and_other.html

"According to the Guardian, Snowden is a 29-year-old high-school dropout who trained for the Army Special Forces before an injury forced him to leave the military. His IT credentials are apparently limited to a few “computer” classes he took at a community college in order to get his high-school equivalency degree—courses that he did not complete. His first job at the NSA was as a security guard. Then, amazingly, he moved up the ranks of the United States’ national security infrastructure: The CIA gave him a job in IT security. He was given diplomatic cover in Geneva. He was hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor, which paid him $200,000 a year to work on the NSA’s computer systems."

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

From the Guardian article:

His understanding of the internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
I suspect there are quite a few successful computer geeks without stellar academic credentials. Recently read about the guy who started tumblr- he dropped out at the age of 15.

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

Q: Does your family know you are planning this?

A: "No. My family does not know what is happening … My primary fear is that they will come after my family, my friends, my partner. Anyone I have a relationship with …

I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I am not going to be able to communicate with them. They [the authorities] will act aggressively against anyone who has known me. That keeps me up at night."

Q: How to you feel now, almost a week after the first leak?

A: "I think the sense of outrage that has been expressed is justified. It has given me hope that, no matter what happens to me, the outcome will be positive for America. I do not expect to see home again, though that is what I want."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-why

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

 

[PhDeac]

It's a dick move not to tell your family you're about to put a target on their backs but say it keeps you up at night.

 

[BeachBumDeac]

"I do not expect to see home again."

When home is Elizabeth City, that's not exactly a bad thing.

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

It's a dick move not to tell your family you're about to put a target on their backs but say it keeps you up at night.

If he were to tell them and they did not inform the authorities they might be in even more jeopardy- probably better to keep them in the dark. They'll be harassed but at least they won't be going to jail. He was willing to sacrifice a $200,000 a year job, a girlfriend in Hawaii, basically everything to expose something that I suspect (hope) most Americans find outrageous. I think he's more hero than dick.

 

[PhDeac]

I admire what he did but his family may suffer the consequences, at least the questions from the media, possibly government backlash while he's a hero.

 

[WFdeacon04]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pardon-edward-snowden/Dp03vGYD

 

[JDawg]

When home is Elizabeth City, that's not exactly a bad thing.

He moved out of Elizabeth City at a young age. My roommate used to hang out with him, played Goldeneye and what not, in middle school outside of Annapolis.

 

[SkinsNDeacs]

If the Libertarian Party can't gain traction in the next 5-10 years there is no hope.

 

[RacerDeac]

I admire what he did but his family may suffer the consequences

Happens daily with soldiers and their families. There are consequences to defending freedom, unfortunately. Assuming all is true, this guy is a hero.

 

[OGBDeacon07]

If the Libertarian Party can't gain traction in the next 5-10 years there is no hope.

Let's hope. The 2012 Election was the first time the Libertarian candidate got over a million votes. More and more people are turning against the 2-party system.

 

[SkinsNDeacs]

Let's hope. The 2012 Election was the first time the Libertarian candidate got over a million votes. More and more people are turning against the 2-party system.

People tend to think that the more support the Libertarian Party gets the more it gives elections to Dems. Issues like this make me think that is not the case. As I said in another thread, Republicans pay lip service to fiscal conservatism and Dems play lip service to civil liberties. Neither gives a damn about either issue. I think Libertarians can cypher off voters from both parties that are truly concerned about those issues. We are decades (at least) away from the Libertarian Party gaining any sort of majority on the national stage but I don't think we are that far away from them getting enough traction on their issues to be taken serious and to change the conversation that the Dempublican Party has dominated for a long time.

 

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

If he were to tell them and they did not inform the authorities they might be in even more jeopardy- probably better to keep them in the dark. They'll be harassed but at least they won't be going to jail. He was willing to sacrifice a $200,000 a year job, a girlfriend in Hawaii, basically everything to expose something that I suspect (hope) most Americans find outrageous. I think he's more hero than dick.

Anyone know Lennay Kekua's role in this?

 

[Ball State Deac]

If the Libertarian Party can't gain traction in the next 5-10 years there is no hope.

I'm coming along to your way of thinking.

 

[RJKarl]

The Libertarian party ain't pure as Caesar's wife. There are a lot of Tea Party types in it. They will need to grow up a lot.

 

[RacerDeac]

The Libertarian party ain't pure as Caesar's wife. There are a lot of Tea Party types in it. They will need to grow up a lot.

And the democratic party has you and BKF, but I try not to hold that against them.

 

[PhDeac]

Skins, most of the Republican Party would call themselves Libertarians. The actual party needs to take control of the name and message. The number of anti-choice, pro-intervention types who only like the "keep your hands off my wallet" part of libertarianism damage it's effectiveness.

 

[FuckmouthedRube]

Gary Johnson got 1.2 million votes in 2102. That's 1% of the total. If all of Johnson's votes were concentrated in a single state, the largest state Johnson could have carried is Tennessee, which has 11 votes electoral votes. Might have been able to maximize electoral votes by carrying multiple smaller states, but you're still looking at low double-digit electoral votes. I'd love to see the GOP/Dem duopoly broken, but it will take multiple smaller parties to fragment the electoral vote enough before someone not from one of the current major partys is elected President.