A campaign to pardon NSA leaker Edward Snowden, launched in combination with a fawning Oliver Stone film about him, hasn't made any headway. The request spurred the entire membership of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, 13 Republicans and 9 Democrats, to send a letter to President Barack Obama urging against a pardon. "He is a criminal," they stated flatly.
Obama weighed in on the matter on Friday. During his European tour, he was interviewed by Der Spiegel—the largest newspaper in Germany, a country where Snowden is particularly popular. After discussing a wide range of issues, he was asked: Are you going to pardon Edward Snowden?
Obama replied: "I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves, so that's not something that I would comment on at this point."
Will the NSA's spying and Snowden's actions come to define Obama's legacy?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jdavidb on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:00AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by jmorris on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:09PM
the awful truth that rulers are parasites, not servants.
Close. More like farmers/ranchers I'd say. They do consider us a mere resource and they do feed off of us. But, like a good farmer they do care about the welfare of their crops and livestock, at least the successful ruler will. Remember, rulers don't only worry about being killed by their subjects, they compete among themselves. A decadent ruler who allows their people to come to ruin due to their rapacity is likely to be overrun by a more enlightened ruler who leads a healthier and more robust people capable of invading and replacing the incompetent one. There is Darwinian selection pressure on rulers.
Also remember that no ruler long rules without the consent of the governed. It doesn't have to be enthusiastic support mind you, merely grudging assent is sufficient to keep a long established order in charge. That is what voting was invented for, to gauge that support of the masses and permit course correction by the rulers before they lost the consent of the governed, as so often happened in olden times with bloody results. Once you understand that, that your vote doesn't actually decide much but is nevertheless vital to the proper functioning of the system, you will be closer to understanding the true nature of the universe.
So long as the masses are convinced we need rulers it isn't hard for an established group to stay in charge, since their prime directive is merely to remain in charge they can adopt whatever position is required to accomplish that goal. Their task is merely to figure out what policies will satisfy their subjects enough that they put the pitchforks down and that is almost always a pretty easy job. The fear that wakes them in the middle of a sound sleep is the notion taking hold that the People don't really need a lot of rulers. There isn't a policy position they can adopt to fix that one.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday November 23 2016, @08:49PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings