Former NSA contractor Snowden had access to lots of delicate information within the U.S. National Security Agency.
Some reports indicate Snowden escalated his concerns to his NSA supervisor, but Snowden's concerns were dismissed.

So Snowden went public with some information that might have been OK; perhaps somewhat akin to The Pentagon Papers.

Is Snowden right, that the next gen thought we'd given up too much liberty* for security, and have backlashed? Or is the timing coincidental?

And while it seems Snowden seems to consider himself a hero, what he doesn't mention is, in addition to some legitimate concerns; Snowden also needlessly released much more classified information, that doesn't do individual citizens any good, yet severely harmed our intelligence gathering.

Is Snowden a hero?

IMO snowden is a hero. alot of us have known we were being spied on well before snowden said anything, but i think when he came out he woke alot of people up to just how shady our government really is. i think anyone who calls snowden a traitor, is a traitor. this guy knew the government was doing illegal ****, so he exposed it and the government wants to lock him up and torture his a$$ for it. i dont blame snowden one bit, he did what was right and is now a man without a country. but he felt strong enough about it that he chose to expose it knowing the likely consequences. snowden is a hero in my book and i dont really care what other people think. this guy should be allowed to come home, and all these corrupt politicians who wants to lock him up should be tossed out of their positions of power and thrown in jail. snowden did the right thing and he doesnt deserve to be a fugitive for it. just shows how phucked up our gov. is. they get exposed doing something illegal, and instead of them being punished for it, they want to punish the guy who exposed it. phucking ludicrous IMO.

On the meta-data issue, perhaps.

You're not concerned about the harm done to our security?

I don't know much about it.

But some experts, head of Homeland Security for example, have suggested what some of what Snowden did set us back 20 years.

Because they have made a fugitive of Snowden, stranded him in a country they wish to classify as "our adversary" (not necessarily an enemy), and labeled him with charges not used for nearly 100 years, they have been more than able to direct the narrative about him and his actions to fit their agenda.

Is he a hero? What is a hero?

He gave up a very good life to tell the American people that their 4th amendment rights were being violated on a large and daily scale. The programs he exposed have caught NO terrorists, but have violated our privacy and our Constitution. In that regard nothing he released has hampered any of our intelligence because the programs he exposed "caught" nobody, but have been used to prosecute Americans for other crimes with information retrieved about them through illegal means or violation of their Constitutional rights in non-terrorist related criminal cases, shared with law enforcement illegally, and covered up by nefarious, deceptive, means.

His actions exposed the illegalities and out of control, unlawful actions of our governments against its own people, its unlawfully use of illegally obtained information, its force against public utilities and businesses dealing with what people thought were their private communications and information, and its use of "national security" as the lie to cover it all up.

It's easy to control the narrative when you control the press or media in general, a secret court which the labeled charges of "espionage" would allow them, or the use of forces of government to silence the source, or keep them and their information from the exposure of a public trial (televised to a nation, perhaps the world) where they would have to answer questions they would rather not.

So while Snowden may not be a "hero" to some, though his actions and sacrifices definitely fit the criteria, he should definitely be allowed a public trial, with public exposure, to address the charges against him (which he has stated he would gladly return for) instead of a secret court led and directed by the very entities and powers he exposed.

After all, is he not innocent until proven guilty by a jury of his peers (not to be confused with a secret court)?

Yes, he admitted he did it, explained why with what little "exposure" he has been allowed, but even a murderer is given their day in court to show cause WHY they are innocent of the harsher charges that are often brought against them.

The illegal programs he exposed have been PROVEN to be USELESS for the reasons they were committed, the courts have ruled as much, the Presidents committees have found that to be true, yet they wish to try him secretly, in a secret court, formed by the very people and powers he exposed..... go figure!

Lerner and the rest of the criminal elite in DC are never even brought to trial for their actions against the American people, but those who expose them usually are..... in secret courts!

well IMO i dont really think he has harmed our security anymore than invading and bombing all these countries we're messing with. thats why people hate us, because we go around scewing with everyone trying to impose our corrupt government system on them. its all propaganda, all of it. homeland security can kiss my @$$. of course they will say that about snowden, cuz all the politicians are mad they got caught doing something they werent supposed to, so instead of them owning up to what they did, they will try to turn it around and make it all snowdens fault. its all lies and propaganda

agree 100% soul.

We seem to be in accord on meta-data.

But I'm not so casual about U.S. national security, and international relations.

How does it benefit the People of the United States to know that our government was spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel; listening in on her phone calls?

We may never know the details of the harm caused.

I've never seen a one-sided coin.

A large sandwich?

all countries spy on each other, they all know that. maybe he figured if he exposed these people for their crimes they would think twice about it.

Once upon a time, traitors were shot.

What this comes down to for me is whether or not he did do this on his own or he conspired with the FSB.

If he did it on his own accord with a geniune feeling that he was doing it to inform US citizens then I don't believe he is a traitor.

If he was working with the FSB then he should be brought back and shot.

so where do we line up the government officials?

i dont think he was working with the FSB, but then again i wouldnt know if he was. my personal opinion is he did it because he realized how much of a fraud the US is.

according to source, US based hi-tech communication firms lost up to $180 billion in foreign sales due to privacy concerns since snowden's outing of the NSA. of course everything now is privacy.... privacy .... privacy ..... in order to get those markets back. when corporate America gets upset... congress listens.

http://www.thenation.com/article/205953/privacy-and-profit-motive#

The whole involvement with wikileaks and their russian lawyer was convenient.

Putin has zero respect for Obama, so being that brazen wouldn't be much of a surprise to me.

doesn't need to work with the FSB,since he is no Operative they can squeeze him so dry without him even knowing it!
Same goes when he was with the Chinese!

well if the american government wasnt a bunch of corrupt pricks, we wouldnt be in this position now would we? dont blame snowden, blame the @$$h0les who lied to us and got caught.

t8,
It's a fundamental difference between math and ethics.

Two negatives may make a positive.

But two wrongs do not make a right.

well i just see it for what it is, government got caught doing something they shouldnt have and instead of owning up to it they wanna vilify snowden for exposing it. governments fault either way.

Something to recognize in the revelation of spying on allies, is that EVERYONE does it, and EVERYONE knows that EVERYONE does it.

No, no truly dramatic damage was done to any of the United States interests by the revelations.

Naturally, the people who were spied on, were required to complain bitterly and righteously. But think things through a bit more, before you jump on the "Snowden was a traitor" bandwagon. Top political leaders ALWAYS make dramatic proclamations of grand politico-emotional reactions to events. And as well, the leaders who's secrets were revealed, are all obligated to proclaim that "serious damage was done to national security by the revelations," even though nothing of the kind occurred.

The protestations are all really BS, at the end of the day.

Notice how not even ONE significant ally left any existing coalitions, or chose different paths for how they related to any other nation?

This is because international political relations are not based on any genuine idealistic affection between nations to begin with. They are based on perceived national interest alone. Nothing else.

well for once we actually agree on something.