I wouldn't say "good for him". Getting in bed with Putin like this only serves to discredit him in the eyes of the public. I know he would face certain arrest if he left Russia, but at this point...
I wouldn't say "good for him". Getting in bed with Putin like this only serves to discredit him in the eyes of the public.
I know he would face certain arrest if he left Russia, but at this point I think my conscience would rest easier in prison than as BFFs with Putin.
I trust Snowden’s original leaks. But recently I can’t help but read his posts as tainted by his relationship with Russia. He’s got nowhere to go now and is much more susceptible to pressure.
I trust Snowden’s original leaks. But recently I can’t help but read his posts as tainted by his relationship with Russia. He’s got nowhere to go now and is much more susceptible to pressure.
I don't think they're friends. My guess is that Putin considers him a useful idiot. He's still tweeting. He posted one Substack article since the war in Ukraine began, about terrible things that...
I don't think they're friends. My guess is that Putin considers him a useful idiot.
He's still tweeting. He posted one Substack article since the war in Ukraine began, about terrible things that the CIA did.
He doesn't say anything at all about Ukraine and I think that's understandable. But I think his writing style is out of step with his current position. Under the circumstances, I think irony, cynicism, and humor would fit better than idealistic moral righteousness, which looks like a pose when he can't talk about the elephant in the room.
I have never seen anything to imply he's "getting in bed with Putin." He has constantly tried to stress that he does not support the policies and actions of the Russian government but is also...
I have never seen anything to imply he's "getting in bed with Putin."
He has constantly tried to stress that he does not support the policies and actions of the Russian government but is also unable to do so to a large extent because that very government is keeping him from being sent to an American black site. He understands the predicament he's in and is trying not to harm his standing with the US by being a Russian spy, and not piss off the Russians by being critical of them.
The most damning thing I can think of for Snowden is his defense of/continued relationship with Glenn Greenwald and Assange, who in turn have grown increasingly cozy with right-wing media. From...
The most damning thing I can think of for Snowden is his defense of/continued relationship with Glenn Greenwald and Assange, who in turn have grown increasingly cozy with right-wing media. From memory that cozying for Assange being things like looking at being a guest host for Hannity, promoting the Seth Rich assassination conspiracy, or suppressing GOP leaks. For Greenwald things like being an advocate of Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones. Considering all the times Trump and others called for public execution of Snowden as the "punishment for traitors" it's hard not to speculate.
I understand why Snowden isn't openly condemning the war (beyond I think a tweet in Feb saying he opposed it, and some previous somewhat muted criticisms of Russia).
It's easy to condemn someone else to a lifetime in jail, and, from the treatment of Chelsea Manning and others, probably torture. His position on that I think has been fairly consistently(?) that he would return to the states if he had a trial by jury, but without that he would be made an example of and used to deter other whistleblowers
Good for him I guess? At least he's not entirely without a country, but it's Russia, and he'll be arrested if he goes to most other countries.
I wouldn't say "good for him". Getting in bed with Putin like this only serves to discredit him in the eyes of the public.
I know he would face certain arrest if he left Russia, but at this point I think my conscience would rest easier in prison than as BFFs with Putin.
I trust Snowden’s original leaks. But recently I can’t help but read his posts as tainted by his relationship with Russia. He’s got nowhere to go now and is much more susceptible to pressure.
I don't think they're friends. My guess is that Putin considers him a useful idiot.
He's still tweeting. He posted one Substack article since the war in Ukraine began, about terrible things that the CIA did.
He doesn't say anything at all about Ukraine and I think that's understandable. But I think his writing style is out of step with his current position. Under the circumstances, I think irony, cynicism, and humor would fit better than idealistic moral righteousness, which looks like a pose when he can't talk about the elephant in the room.
I have never seen anything to imply he's "getting in bed with Putin."
He has constantly tried to stress that he does not support the policies and actions of the Russian government but is also unable to do so to a large extent because that very government is keeping him from being sent to an American black site. He understands the predicament he's in and is trying not to harm his standing with the US by being a Russian spy, and not piss off the Russians by being critical of them.
The most damning thing I can think of for Snowden is his defense of/continued relationship with Glenn Greenwald and Assange, who in turn have grown increasingly cozy with right-wing media. From memory that cozying for Assange being things like looking at being a guest host for Hannity, promoting the Seth Rich assassination conspiracy, or suppressing GOP leaks. For Greenwald things like being an advocate of Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones. Considering all the times Trump and others called for public execution of Snowden as the "punishment for traitors" it's hard not to speculate.
I understand why Snowden isn't openly condemning the war (beyond I think a tweet in Feb saying he opposed it, and some previous somewhat muted criticisms of Russia).
It's easy to condemn someone else to a lifetime in jail, and, from the treatment of Chelsea Manning and others, probably torture. His position on that I think has been fairly consistently(?) that he would return to the states if he had a trial by jury, but without that he would be made an example of and used to deter other whistleblowers
It is hard to make sense of whatever happened to Glenn Greenwald.