"Having Putin get publicly chummy with you, spy-to-spy, is really not the way to make your case"

[kpete]

THE SNOWDEN EFFECT, CONTINUED
By Charles P. Pierce on April 17, 2014



This, dear boy, is a very bad move.

"I've seen little public discussion of Russia's policy of mass surveillance," Snowden said. "So I'd like to ask you: Does Russia intercept, store, or analyze the communication of millions? And do you believe that simply increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies can justify placing societies, rather than individual subjects, under surveillance?" Putin welcomed Snowden's question, even recognizing him as a sort of colleague. "Mr. Snowden, you are a former spy. I used to work for an intelligence agency," Putin said. "We can talk one professional language." "First of all, our intelligence efforts are strictly regulated by our law," he added. "You have to get the court's permission to stalk a person. We don't have a mass system of interception. With our law, it cannot exist. Of course, we know criminals and terrorists use technology for their criminal acts and of course the special services have to use technical means to respond to their crimes. Of course, we do some efforts like that but we do not have mass scale effort. I hope we don't do that. We don't have the money or the kind of devices they have in the United States. Our special services are strictly controlled by the society and the law, and are regulated by the law."

As it happens, I actually believe the U.S. capacity for surveillance probably is greater than that of Russia. (USA! USA!). But this "Our special services are strictly controlled by law" yadda-yadda is such hilariously arrant bullshit that Snowden ought to be embarrassed for helping to catapult it into the dialogue. If you're trying to convince people that you are a disinterested seeker of truth who happens to be in Moscow because of a variety of very strange circumstances -- The new Vanity Fair has a long piece on how Snowden came to be in Russia in which Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks people do not come off well at all -- and that you are not operating too closely with the current Russian regime, having Vladimir Putin get publicly chummy with you, spy-to-spy, is really not the way to make your case.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/edward-snowden-putin-041714

[Egnever]

1. you are a former spy

Oops. Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to slip out.

[jakeXT]

2. CIA, NSA, Booz Allen Hamilton

He was everywhere

[sufrommich]

3. Yeah,that comment jumped off the page. Notice no denial

from Snowden?

[99Forever]

4. Does this mean the NSA has stopped it's unConstitutional...

... spying on American citizens?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

5. Yes. When they started requiring a WARRANT. NT

[frylock]

17. ah yes, the rubberstamp warrant

[herding cats]

6. If there's any one thing I'm sure of in this situation, it's that Snowden picked the wrong ally.

Putin knew what he was doing when he said this, "Mr Snowden you are a former agent, a spy, I used to work for a intelligence service, we are going to talk the same language." Putin owns Snowden now, and he wants the world to know it. This horse and pony show was a display of Putin's power over Snowden and anyone who sees it otherwise is in denial as to just how much power he's gained by getting Snowden in the first place.

I believe Snowden did American citizens a service with his revelations. However, I still have my doubts as to his motivations. One thing does not negate the other in my mind. I seriously doubt there's anything here which is simply black and white. Also, you're not going to convince me Russia, one of the leaders in the world in cyber espionage, is seriously expecting this little staged question and answer session to have any real impact on anyone with an independent thought in their head.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Of course he's a spy. He took a job JUST to steal US secrets and ran off

to foreign countries with them, in exchange for support and asylum. The fact that anybody still doubts this means they either are Russian/Chinese internet trolls, or they're RWers who still think there's some anti-Obama mileage to be gained from the whole affair, or they're really, really fucking dumb.

[frylock]

18. you should alert the authorities of your revelation..

this is HUGH!!12 in all seriousness, let's get fucking real here. do you honestly believe that the US intelligence apparatus hasn't been looking for a connection, no matter how tenuous, to Snowden and Russia's spy agencies? and if there was any connection, you don't believe that Clapper wouldn't be front and center proclaiming those connections? really?!

[alarimer]

21. That's fucking bullshit and you know it.

You anti-Snowden folks have lost whatever credibility you had with this conspiracy nonsense.

Besides you are all hypocrites. His actions would be fine and dandy under a Bush administration, but because your team is in the White House, it's wrong. It's as if Aaron Rodgers started playing for the Minnesota Vikings. All of a sudden, to Packer fans, he would suck.

[Enrique]

8. everyone's giving Snowden advice on how to be "effective"

I wonder, who has been more effective than Snowden in this area?

[former9thward]

9. Snowden haters giving advice to him....

Fortunately he is smart enough not to take it.

[Enrique]

10. the first comment at the article

Let's see: two Pulitzers for stories about the NSA, the CIA under investigation for domestic espionage, the president forced to acknowledge an issue, the head of the NSA unexpectedly deciding to spend more time with his family and his Star Trek memorabilia: none of this would have happened absent Snowden, and that despite the considerable amount of time and prose you, Charlie, expended deploring his conduct and despairing of the national conversation. And I'll bet that as we speak, a whole bunch of people in Russia are looking at Putin's response and calling bullshit, which is in fact the purpose of such a question: to get a public official to say something ridiculous. It undermines them, as you, Charlie, have repeatedly noted with respect to the bullshit responses on the issue from Obama and minions.

Everybody here saw Putin's comment as ridiculous, do we think we're the only ones that see it that way? Especially the Russian people? Plus, for a good portion of the people here at DU, the feelings about Putin have very little to do with Putin, they are really just defending Obama. Of course there are similar people in Russia, whose views on surveillance, and everything else, revolve around Putin's image, but there are also free-thinking Russians that see through this claim just like we do.

[LittleBlue]

11. Snowden (basically) won the Pulitzer by going against everyone's advice

I think he knows what he's doing.

Charles P Pierce? Never heard of him. Another nobody who's achieved nothing giving advice.

[Polito Vega]

13. His was another article talking about Snowden and not about NSA spying

It's like they argue that Snowden's actions change the problems posed by blanket collection of metadata, spying on Amnesty International, etc. It's an attempt to divert attention.

[LittleBlue]

14. Yep

Like it or not, some just cannot accept that what Snowden did was essential for the health of this country. As acknowledged by the Pulitzer Prize Board.

[unreadierLizard]

12. Just because Snowden did something like this,

forced or not, it does not invalidate the data that he revealed - that the United States does this, lies about it to everyone including Congress and its allies, and thinks it is arrogant enough to get away with it.

You might not like Snowden, but the data itself has no bias or favourites.

[Aerows]

15. If Snowden

put the toilet paper on the toilet paper roll with it falling under it instead of over it, the defenders of the surveillance state would take it as an opportunity to screech that the data he provided was invalid, and go on to preach that he has improper etiquette and is disrespectful.

If Greenwald put the toilet paper on the toilet paper roll with it falling over instead of under, they would declare him a narcissist and a monster because his method prevents small children and the disabled from firmly pulling the toilet paper off the roll, therefore, the information is invalid.

[elias49]

16. That about sums it up nt

[Whisp]

20. ha!

[Whisp]

19. Snowden has to say what Big Vladdy Daddy demands or he'll be

a picture on a vodka carton soon.

[Cha]

22. "This, dear boy, is a very bad move." Maher was right.. everything outta Eddie's mouth is

"fucking stupid".

[The Magistrate]

23. Mr. Pierce Has a Point, Ma'am

And especially so in the current climate....