US Government releases email conversation between Snowden and his bosses

> Those who believe that he did the right thing will herald it as proof that he tried to go through other channels before leaking documents. Those who think him a traitor will use it as proof that Snowden didn’t really raise concerns with the NSA’s activities until after he shared those documents with the world.

Or maybe we could say, "It doesn't matter." When evidence of serious long-term criminal behavior is given, I find it reasonable to concentrate on the accused, not the accuser. This release is, of course, an attempt to get us to think more about the accuser, to argue about him, to make the debate about him.

From the beginning of this article, it seems that Mr. Mott has fallen for it ...

> That ambiguity doesn’t change the effect that revealing these programs has had on national discourse. It doesn’t change the fact that intelligence agencies, from the NSA and beyond, are compromising our fundamental right to privacy and justifying it with half-hearted mentions of “terrorism.” And it doesn’t change anything about the argument we are having about the NSA’s freedom to do seemingly whatever it wants. In the abstract, it’s an interesting email thread. But not that interesting.

... or perhaps not. But I fear that last paragraph will be ignored. So: Let's not ignore it.