Timothy Birdnow

A simple thought; when Edward Snowdsen spilled the beans on spying on the U.S. public by America's intelligence agencies, most Democrats were all for throwing the book at him.

that 4 out of 5 Democratic candidates supported severe penalties for the whistle blowing NSA contractor, for example.

According to the article:

But perhaps the most interesting discussion of privacy and surveillance came next, when Anderson followed up talk of the NSA with its most famed whistleblower. The moderator took the opportunity to ask every candidate whether Edward Snowden was a traitor or a hero. And despite whatever prior rhetoric came up against NSA surveillance, the overwhelming majority of the stage fell in line with the current White House position on the matter.

COOPER: Governor Chafee, Edward Snowden, is he a traitor or a hero?

CHAFEE: No, I would bring him home. The courts have ruled that what he did—what he did was say the American...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Bring him home, no jail time?

CHAFEE: ... the American government was acting illegally. That's what the federal courts have said; what Snowden did showed that the American government was acting illegally for the Fourth Amendment. So I would bring him home.

COOPER: Secretary Clinton, hero or traitor?

CLINTON: He broke the laws of the United States. He could have been a whistleblower. He could have gotten all of the protections of being a whistleblower. He could have raised all the issues that he has raised. And I think there would have been a positive response to that.

COOPER: Should he do jail time?

ClINTON: In addition—in addition, he stole very important information that has unfortunately fallen into a lot of the wrong hands. So I don't think he should be brought home without facing the music.

COOPER: Governor [Martin] O'Malley, Snowden?

(APPLAUSE)

O'MALLEY: Anderson, Snowden put a lot of Americans' lives at risk. Snowden broke the law. Whistleblowers do not run to Russia and try to get protection from Putin. If he really believes that, he should be back here.

COOPER: Senator Sanders, Edward Snowden?

SANDERS: I think Snowden played a very important role in educating the American people to the degree in which our civil liberties and our constitutional rights are being undermined.

COOPER: Is he a hero?

SANDERS: He did—he did break the law, and I think there should be a penalty to that. But I think what he did in educating us should be taken into consideration before he is (inaudible).

COOPER: Senator [Jim] Webb, Edward Snowden?

WEBB: I—well, I—I would leave his ultimate judgment to the legal system. Here's what I do believe. We have a serious problem in terms of the collection of personal information in this country. And one of the things that I did during the FISA bill in 2007, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, was introduce with Russ Feingold two amendments basically saying, "We understand the realities of how you have to collect this broad information in the Internet age, but after a certain period of time, you need to destroy the personal information that you have if people have not been brought—if criminal justice proceedings have not been brought against them."

We've got a vast data bank of information that is ripe for people with bad intentions to be able to use. And they need to be destroyed.

End excerpt.

And nearly 38% of Democrats polled thought Mr. Snowden should not be pardoned, according to The Hill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also sought to hold Snowden to strict account.

"But a leading Democrat, Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, took an opposing view. "I disagree with Rand Paul that we should plea-bargain with him prior to him coming back,” he said.

The senator appeared after Paul on the ABC program, where both men were asked about a New York Times editorial about Snowden that cited "the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed,” and suggested that the United States offer Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency."

End excerpt.

Hillary Clinton too called for strict accountability for Snowden.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/13/clinton-sanders-snowden-nsa-democratic-debate

So where are the cries by Democrats to hold the natioanl Security ooperatives who have been leaking damaging rumors about Michael Flynn and other Trump people accountable? The silence is deafening.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:57 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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