I havent read the full transcript, but I find it terrifyingly fascinating how the US has managed to turn Snowden into a pariah, owing in part to its own revoking of his passport while in transit through Russia.
Anybody who saw him speak knows he was doing everything possible to make it about the content, and not him as a person- only putting his name to the light to prove it wasn't false or the result of some disgruntled employee trying to stick it to his manager.
Yet the narrative very quickly focused on him; the content of his character, his upbringing, his connection to the government, the fact that he is in Russia and decidedly not on the content of the leaks which quickly got glossed over and to date I am unaware of single arrest due to it- despite clear evidence of lawbreaking (including but not limited to: deliberately lying to the Senate).
Lets not forget that diplomatic plane that was downed across international territories because they suspected Snowden was inside.
Despite posing no continued threat to the US, they sure spent a lot of effort making him as uncredible as possible yet anyone who has eyes sees it as completely transparent.
The scariest part of it all is that people actually are falling for that narrative, do not look at the leaks for what they are (proof of unconstitutional behaviour by a branch of government) and call Snowden a plant or a terrorist- ironically the kinds of people who would otherwise argue against government interference. Boggles my mind, and scares me to death how clearly susceptible the population is to disinformation.
Anybody who saw him speak knows he was doing everything possible to make it about the content, and not him as a person- only putting his name to the light to prove it wasn't false or the result of some disgruntled employee trying to stick it to his manager.
Yet the narrative very quickly focused on him; the content of his character, his upbringing, his connection to the government, the fact that he is in Russia and decidedly not on the content of the leaks which quickly got glossed over and to date I am unaware of single arrest due to it- despite clear evidence of lawbreaking (including but not limited to: deliberately lying to the Senate).
Lets not forget that diplomatic plane that was downed across international territories because they suspected Snowden was inside.
Despite posing no continued threat to the US, they sure spent a lot of effort making him as uncredible as possible yet anyone who has eyes sees it as completely transparent.
The scariest part of it all is that people actually are falling for that narrative, do not look at the leaks for what they are (proof of unconstitutional behaviour by a branch of government) and call Snowden a plant or a terrorist- ironically the kinds of people who would otherwise argue against government interference. Boggles my mind, and scares me to death how clearly susceptible the population is to disinformation.