Sen. Paul To Snowden: Don’t ‘Cozy Up’ To Russian Government
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has publicly praised NSA leaker Edward Snowden for his actions, warned Snowden Sunday not to cozy up to the Russian or Chinese governments--or any governments that are "perceived still as enemies of ours."
"I do think, for Mr. Snowden, if he cozies up to the Russian government, it will be nothing but bad for his name in history," Paul said on CNN's State of the Union. "If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if he refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this, I think there's a chance that he'll be seen as an advocate of privacy.
Paul said that ultimately history will be the judge of Snowden's legacy, suggesting that he will likely be remembered as a foil to intelligence chief James Clapper, who Paul said lied in front of Congress when he testified that the government was not collecting any personal data on Americans.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/sen-paul-to-snowden-dont-cozy-up-to
LOL!
= new reply since forum marked as read
...two brothers could leave a couple of pressure-cooker bombs in the middle of Boston, in spite of the surveillance state we have in place and in spite of having been warned more than once by Russia about the elder of the two.
In other words, it is at least worth asking the question of whether this vast increase in surveillance is really doing the job it was supposedly implemented to do.
Then there is the fact that, at least as of 2011, the Patriot Act has been used much more extensively in the War On (some) Drugs:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/09/12/911-chart-of-the-day/
...but of course we have no way of knowing that.
My point is, we are paying huge $$$ for our government to to collect huge amounts of information on all of us, all so we can have the illusion of security. The fact that a lot of this money goes to private firms, and that as a result there are tens of thousands of contractors who have top secret clearances, is just an additional poke in the eye to the citizens of the U.S.
The basic disagreement that a lot of us have is between those who believe this system really provides the level of security that our government claims it does, vs. those of us who do not believe it; and between those who trust the government (and its contractors) not to abuse the information that has been collected, vs. those of us who know for a certainty that they will abuse it.
I guess "never the twain shall meet" is where we're at. It's glass half empty / glass half full stuff, showing there is a very fundamental difference in world view between us, that is not amenable to argument.
But argue we will, this is DU! 
Snowden is a hero. 
"Duck and cover".
"I'd guess this make you a Paul supporter."
...I was laughing at Paul.
