Okay, Now Will People Admit That Ed Snowden Is A Whistleblower?
from the he-clearly-disclosed-abuse dept
Nearly two weeks ago, Michael German, at the ACLU, posted a somewhat prescient article detailing why Ed Snowden was clearly a "whistleblower" under the current definitions in US law:It is actually not a hard question to answer. The Whistleblower Protection Act protects "any disclosure" that a covered employee reasonably believes evidences "any violation of any law, rule, or regulation," or "gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, and abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety."It goes on to give some evidence of how Snowden's leaks fit into those categories:
In the two months since Snowden's alleged disclosures, no fewer than five lawsuits have been filed challenging the legality of the surveillance programs he exposed. The author of the Patriot Act, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), called the scope of data collection revealed in one of the leaked Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders "incredibly troubling," and "an overbroad interpretation of the Act" that "raise[s] questions about whether our constitutional rights are secure."Of course, even then, some argued that since the revelations did not, in fact, reveal direct "abuses," he still wasn't a "whistleblower." But that's no longer true. As we've been detailing, his leaks have led to the clear evidence of not just a few random abuses, but rather thousands of abuses by the NSA every year.
It doesn't end there. Over a dozen bills have been introduced in Congress to narrow these now public surveillance authorities and increase transparency regarding continuing programs. No one can know what was in Edward Snowden's mind, but clearly he could have had a reasonable belief the documents he leaked to the news media revealed government illegality and abuse of authority.
The disclosures also revealed that U.S. military officers and intelligence community officials have been less than truthful in their public comments and congressional testimony about the government's domestic surveillance practices, both in the scope of the programs and their effectiveness. Such false and misleading testimony threatens more than just Americans' privacy; it threatens democratic control of government.
So can we drop whatever name calling game people are playing and agree that he meets the definition of a whistleblower?
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Filed Under: abuse, ed snowden, nsa, nsa surveillance, whistleblower
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If he was a government employee, he would be covered. Period.
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NO
A Whistleblower is NOT a Terrorist
The United Stasi of America needs to wake up and smell the coffee and get real.
The only real threat to your democracy is paranoia and shizophrenia from your own government.
There is no need for it.
Now leave Snowden alone, he did you all a favour.
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Re: NO
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Of course he's a whistleblower
The entire NSA should be reconstituted with all current members sent off to Gitmo for life (as long as it takes to chamber the next bullet).
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Similarly on accurate naming...
None Dare Call it FASCISM: How the NSA has (already) privatized tyranny
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/none_dare_call_it_fascism_how_the_nsa_has_already_priv atized_tyranny
Let’s just not miss what is arguably an even greater danger, the privatization and outsourcing of tyranny itself to the big mega-corporates."
Boy, Mike, you're really cranking out the fluff today! -- And where are the minions?
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Re: Similarly on accurate naming...
Nobody's missed that. It's discussed very frequently here.
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Perhaps we should let that decision rest in the hands of someone a bit more fair and impartial that our executive branch - you know, like the Russian government.
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Three is called a hat trick, what is nailing all six called?
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Douchebag denialists
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Maybe if some of you will go click on it, it might get seen.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/recognize-edward-snowden-whistle-blower-and-guara ntee-he-will-not-face-charges-his-acts-courage/m4pCqtjR
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Snowden is on my list of the 10 most influential people of this century. His actions will hopefully educate & inform "We the People" causing them to rise up to destroy the established unconstitutional TYRANNY and restore our Democratic Society. Hell, I'd vote for Snowden if he ran for President. I trust Snowden. I don't trust the current administration. They need to be sent to Gitmo.......
I want my Democracy back.
I want my Constitution back.
I want my Privacy back.
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Pay-per-view event of a lifetime.
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He didn't fill any of the government provided whistleblower forms nor solicit a whistleblower license. He also didn't use the double-secret special whistleblower handshake, so clearly he isn't officially a whistleblower.
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