My, my, is Outside The Box dropping the ball? One of the biggest stories of 2013 just broke (well, O.K., almost a week ago) and nary a thread from anyone about it?

My opinion? I'd hang 'em . . . . Obama and the entire lot of politicians and corporations who support the Stasi States of America, going all the way back to Bush and Cheney and perhaps beyond.

You only have two options on the poll.

Why not a third - "Self-seeking publicist exaggerating his clerk's job to a ridiculous extent"

Or even a fourth - "Silly little clerk, now working for the Chinese without pay."

I'm still not sure how I feel about him, but he is not a patriot.

You only have two options on the poll.

Why not a third - "Self-seeking publicist exaggerating his clerk's job to a ridiculous extent"

Or even a fourth - "Silly little clerk, now working for the Chinese without pay."

Come on, think about it . . . do you really think he'd place himself in the position he's now in for what, publicity? You're living large in Hawaii on 200 Gs per year and one day you decide you want to be in the spotlight so you trash all of that, not to mention exile yourself from the U.S. and your family for maybe ever? And do you realize the type of people who are now hunting him? That's absolutely illogical.

I'm still not sure how I feel about him, but he is not a patriot.

pa·tri·ot [pey-tree-uht, -ot or, esp. British, pa-tree-uht] noun

1. a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.
2. a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, especially of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.

​I don't see how the definition wouldn't fit.

He is telling the world that the US government has been hacking websites in China. That is a lot different from exposing alleged violations of American citizen's privacy.

Third option;

ignore the publicity seeking <deleted>.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. (Dr Johnson)

(Yes, I know he meant something different, but it's a nice tag!)

Please excuse my anger on this, but stupidity can only be allowed to transgress so far...

In my opinion, you should hang yourself.

There is nothing of what has been "leaked" that you cannot find on Google, if you cared.

But you don't care, do you?

Instead you ignore the past and begin from the now and focus on a person rather than the thing the person is saying; and

that being something of substance which has been said many many times before in the public forum and is right under your

nose even as I type this.

This is moot information. This is not leaked, confidential, top secret information, and Dick-head Cheney can burn in Hell for

the crimes he committed and then have the gall to go on FOX-snooze and say Snowden should be executed for something

which everyone else is saying on Google. How ironic and incredibly stupid he is and how he must think the American and

World public is.

Snowden is neither a bad person or a good person. He is a litmus test on the abject stupidity and ignorance of the American

mainstream public; and guess what; this is classic in demonstrating how much the public has failed.

Google "NSA Domestic Spying":

Last Year: Aug. 31, 2012
There Was A Secret Ruling Against The NSA For Spying On Americans

Last year again: July 2, 2012
Sworn Declaration of Whistleblower William Binney on NSA Domestic Surveillance Capabilities

Seven (7) Years ago: 2006
The National Security Agency's Domestic Spying Program: Framing the Debate

Eight (8) Years ago: December 26, 2005
Powell Speaks Out On Nsa Domestic Spying Program

These are a few of hundreds of articles on this, but idiots slated for the slaughter will sit on their asses and gulp down the

slop that is fed to them. If it can't be manipulated with a remote control then it must not be genuine, and not worth getting

off one's ass to research.

So, what is your question again... "American Public should be labeled as Idiotic, Gullible Sheep waiting for the slaughter, or

Abject US Government Ass-kissers who want to be spoon-fed lies"?

This isn't about Snowden. It's about you!

You only have two options on the poll.

Why not a third - "Self-seeking publicist exaggerating his clerk's job to a ridiculous extent"

Or even a fourth - "Silly little clerk, now working for the Chinese without pay."

How about reality, instead of an ignorant and disrespectful statement like this. It takes millions of dollars and over a year to screen a man of Snowden's abilities to allow him to have access to the rooms he worked in. To suggest that this man is a genius at what he does is an understatement. To believe the lies that the NSA are saying about him to cover up is pure gullibility.

Do you actually think the NSA is going to divulge top-secret information about an investment in order to truthfully answer legitimate questions at a Senate hearing?

Or are they more likely to create a false identity... a false Snowden in order to cover up what they really know about him, and exerted every effort to recruit him back in the beginning, because he was the cream of the crop. Or, is it that you simply believe that the NSA invests millions of dollars to hire a little under 50,000 "silly little clerks"?

Did you know that in companies like Pratt and Whitney. McDonald Douglas or Boeing it takes over a year, thousands of dollars and reams and reams of background checks and documents just to get clearance to work on military things like tubes and levers? If there is even ONE question on that screening process, the person is OUT! We're not talking about this here.

We're talking about a business that invests so much money in screening EVERY member that they number less than 50,000 computer geniuses... not "silly little clerks", as your naive statement suggests.

This man is putting his conscience on the line just as Lt. Watada did. That is an American trait that would get the commendations of the likes of our constitutional forefathers. But it it clear to me how much people like you have been brain-washed into believing that today's government is sacra-sanct, and any American engaging in opposition deserves to be called "silly" for being so brazen as to question god!

Snowden and Watada simply did what any good person of conscience would have done. To say that is un-American and to condemn them... well, what is America becoming if we are even having this conversation?

Third option;

ignore the publicity seeking <deleted>.

Thankyou, 7by7.

Yawn!

If our Governments weren't so obsessive about keeping secrets, much of them I suspect trivia, nobody would have noticed. No genuine security would have been compromised, and a lot more paper-pushers would be out of jobs, and cost the Government less. Same with Assange.

Shock horror from BBC this a.m. Die Spiegel says Snowden told them the US was spying on the EU building in I think they said New York. I'd be surprised if they weren't, and if the European countries are not returning the courtesy. My only question would be why not?