The Motivation of Edward Snowden

Common Dreams recently published a video in which Edward Snowden elaborates on his concerns and motivations for exposing the NSA. The following quote stood out:

“The structures of power that exist are working to their own ends to extend their capabilities at the expense of the freedom of all publics.”

Related news:

From Democracy Now (Amy Goodman interview of Glenn Greenwald)
: “The reason that Edward Snowden came forward, the reason that we’re reporting on this so aggressively, is because—and this is not hyperbole in any way; it’s a purely accurate description—the NSA is in the process, in total secrecy, with no accountability, of constructing a global, ubiquitous surveillance system that has as its goal the elimination of privacy worldwide, so that there can be no electronic communications—by telephone, Internet, email, chat—that is beyond the reach of the United States government. They are attempting to collect and store and monitor all of it, and that they can invade it at any time they want, no matter who you are or where you are on the planet. This has very profound implications for the kind of world in which we live, for the kind of relationship the United States has to the rest of the world, the way in which individuals feel free to communicate with one another, use the Internet. And that, I think, is why the story is resonating as much as it is.”

Regarding recent revelations by the NYT that secret U.S. court ruling are sweeping in scope:

“What you actually have is a completely warped and undemocratic institution, this court that meets in complete secrecy, where only the government is allowed to attend. And unlike previously, when it really was confined to just issuing individual warrants about particular targets of terrorism, it is now issuing sweeping, broad opinions defining the contours of our constitutional liberties, of the Fourth Amendment, of the government’s power to spy on us—and it’s all being done in secret. What kind of a country has a court that defines the Constitution in total secrecy and forces us to live under truly secret law in which the government can do all sorts of things to us that we’re not even aware of, that it’s claiming the right to do and being given the power to do it?”

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Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on civil rights (including First Amendment), consumer law litigation and appellate practice. At this website often writes about censorship, corporate news media corruption and cognitive science. He is also a working musician, artist and a writer, having founded Dangerous Intersection in 2006. Erich lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his two daughters.

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Avatar of Erich Vieth
    Erich Vieth

    It’s getting increasingly obvious that the U.S. and its lapdog journalists have worked to smear the character Edward Snowden rather than mount any defensive that Snowden lied about any aspect of the Surveillance State. That suggests to me that Snowden is quite credible regarding the details he reports, including his charge that the U.S. has direct access to most of our phone and email data.

    1. Avatar of Jim Razinha
      Jim Razinha

      My wife’s introduced me to a summer diversion…the comedy “How I met Your Mother” and one character had an appropriate line:

      Hi, leg warehouse, my friend Ted needs something to stand on.

      When something can’t be refuted, the incompetent resort to ad hominem attacks, lies, smears…suggesting as you note that there might well be fire behind the smoke.

      I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about another Grenada soon to divert attention from this.

    2. Avatar of Erich Vieth
      Erich Vieth

      Jim: It would be difficult to tell whether a new war would be intended to be a diversion. We been involved in so many military operations, it is difficult to count them all. Check out this amazing list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

      But I do agree with you. The powers that be will try to distract from the riveting story that the government thinks it owns the People and can spy on them indiscriminately as long as they utter the word “terrorism.”

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