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Comment by mc32 | Hacker News Reader

This is off-topic, but wouldn't she be a Snowdenist?

Or is it hipper, more fashinable to add an "a" at the ends of words? Is a hipsterista cooler than a run of the mill hipster?

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It should be Sarah Harrison, this title is fucking terrible

I noticed it's changed now, so for histories sake the title I was responding to was "How a Snowdenista hid the leaker in a Russian airport" or something very close to that.

For some reason it connotes comparison to a militant leftist activist, like a Sandinista. That doesn't seem like such an inaccurate connotation with respect to Snowden's supporters.

That would seem like an odd thing to do.

Most supporters of Snowden, as well as he, present him as a patriot, a defender of the constitution in the face of a spying apparatus which has lost its way. So I would think the last thing they'd want to do is present him and his associations as militant leftists. Therefore, if the assertion to add "a" is a kind of nod to leftist activism, that would seem to betray Snowden's expressed intent.

It's a pretty rich comparison which doesn't have to be interpreted negatively (that is dependent on the observer).

For example, the Sandinistas would likely see themselves as fighting Yankee imperialism and domestic supporters of the Sandinistas might have an angle of opposing CIA activity. Especially if you bring Assange into this, you really are at most a few hops of association away from the literal Sandinistas.

Fitting the "Patriot / Constitution" image in there is a little awkward because of how those words have been appropriated by the far right wing, invoking patriotism is also a little awkward with respect to how much patronage from Russia et al. is involved here.

I don't really care what the word ends up being but it would be convenient to have a compact word like "Snowdenista" and I'd appreciate it if the term isn't something pompous and not really indicative like "Patriotic Constitution-Supporter"

I would have to argue against the thought that only people on the right can be 'patriots' Maybe it seems like they are more facile with the word, but people on the regular left aren't any less patriotic, at least in their minds, than people on the regular right. The far right, and perhaps far left, might misappropriate the word, but who cares, it does not take away from other people's patriotism.

In my mind, the only viable defense for Snowden is a constitutional defense, else, it would enter treacherous territory, ie. he'd not then be defending citizen's rights, etc. but rather be exposing state secrets, as it were.

You're mixing patriotism with nationalism.

I'm a patriot because I love my country. I'm not a nationalist because I love my son.

His opponents usually take issue with his methods, and believe that his actions speak louder than words. They see his methods as anti-government rather than pro-Constitution.

it's very exciting to live in a world where "i don't want every action i perform to be logged by government agencies" to be translated to "leftist activist", thanks for participating in that framework

But pekk isn't making that allegation. He's just pointing out the connotation of adding an "a" to the regular "-ist" suffix. So, it's more that Vice is the one you might be upset with. And not quite tongue-in-cheek, but they could very well be doing that knowingly, subversively.

Vogue - a fashion magazine, not Vice - a propaganda front.

Probably because "ista" comes from Spanish, and many of the populist uprisings during the Cold War era happened in Spanish-speaking countries.

During the Reagan administration, the University of Maryland "Commie Co-Op" sold a delicious crispy triangular mince, potato, onion and pea filled pastry called a "Sandinista", which was the left-wing successor to the Samosa, a pun on Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the dictator of Nicaragua before the Sandinistas overthrew him.

(Mr. Bane can verify that they were very yummy indeed! ;)

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