Maybe people who hold power are all conniving bastards to some degree, and all of them should have their dirty laundry aired.
Makes me think lemmy tankies can't admit even their saints are flawed humans, too, because that'd mean they could never become perfect and can't bear ever being wrong.
Joking aside, I have two primary problems with Snowden.
His leaks were not just of the moral variety, but also exposed US spycraft. That's... not great.
I would have been much more convinced of his idealism, even as a change of heart from his prior opinions, had he gone somewhere other than fucking Russia. You expect me to believe you're too moral to stand by while the US spies on its own people, and then go and settle quietly under Putin's regime? Moron, hypocrite, or actual authoritarian scumbag, it doesn't matter to me at this point. I have no desire to see him jailed at this point, but he's no hero to my eyes.
I'm pretty sure Snowden is very opposed to Putin and everything the Kremlin does. He knew he'd be safe there. It was a smart move, evidenced by the fact that over a decade later, the world's richest government hasn't arrested him. Do you agree with the politics of your country's leaders? I certainly don't, but that doesn't make me immoral for living here.
I’m pretty sure Snowden is very opposed to Putin and everything the Kremlin does.
Ah, is that why he was pushing the "Ukrainian invasion is a Western psyop" line before February 24?
There are any number of countries without extradition treaties with the US, and many that have treaties and regularly refuse. Choosing the worst of them, a fascist state? Doesn't look too good.
I'm not aware of that. Source? I was looking for something about this and all I found was an article saying he should speak up about the war. Which seems to ignore the difficult position he's in where he can get murdered by the Kremlin easily. We know this happens in Russia all the time. Even despite that, from the article:
On February 16, 2022, Snowden wrote: “’Russia should not invade Ukraine’. The reason I don’t say it more is because it’s a non-statement: everybody agrees with it, even Russians. The only people who think slogans solve the problem are people who don’t understand the conflict.”
Also, you're actually suggesting he was aligned with Russia from the beginning and that's why he went there?
“’Russia should not invade Ukraine’. The reason I don’t say it more is because it’s a non-statement: everybody agrees with it, even Russians. The only people who think slogans solve the problem are people who don’t understand the conflict.”