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Comment by peterkelly | Hacker News Reader

So here's the ironic thing:

If the US had provided a safe way for him to expose the wrongdoing of his employers, such that he could do so without fear of being persecuted, he could have stayed on US soil the whole time.

Now, because he knows he's going to end up in jail (or worse) if & when he returns to the US, he ends up having to spend time in countries which are likely to want to interrogate him for all the information he has.

Nice move, US.

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Here's the ironic thing: If Snowden had done the more courageous thing and stayed in his country and released this data he'd be viewed as much more of a hero and would make it 10 times harder to prosecute him. To me that's the difference between a true patriot vs someone who wants all the glory but none of the consequences of their actions.

We saw with the treatment of Bradley Manning that it is very unlikely Snowden would have been treated well. Yes, there is merit in the argument that being willing to go to jail for your beliefs improves your moral standing. But there's also the argument that Snowden could do more good as a free man who (when he arrives somewhere safe) is able to speak freely about the issues and participate in the public discussion, which he would be unable to do from jail.

I don't really see any upside, for him or the public, to him being locked away.

Just personal speculation, but I think that his remaining "on the run" has extended the discussion over the actual issues. Of course there has been a lot of focus put on 'Where Snowden will go' and 'What options does he really have' but even events such as the forced landing of the Bolivian president's plane have added to the spying discussion. Honestly I think if Snowden had remained in the US and been arrested, there wouldn't have been enough "intrigue" for the media to continue running the NSA story at all.

If snowden stayed in the country he would be locked in solitary, and wouldnt even have a trial scheduled for 2 to 3 years. And his trial would have been 'classified' and the public would have no knowledge of the precedings.

Also, TIL: http://www.whistleblowers.gov

What wrongdoing was that? What laws did the NSA brake?

I could certainly list the laws that Snowden broke if you'd like.

sigh

So I think we all know by now that what the NSA is doing is technically "legal", and Snowden's actions are "illegal".

However what the NSA is doing is unethical, and Snowden's actions are ethical. That's because the law is unjust, and (apparently) violates the US constitution. Also a lot of people are very upset about the secret "interpretations" of the law.

See also: Gandhi, Mandela, Luther King Jr, et. al.

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."

- Thomas Jefferson

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