This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/13/top-commentary-nsa-leaks

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Top 10 commentaries on the NSA leaks and whistleblower Edward Snowden Top 10 commentaries on the NSA leaks and whistleblower Edward Snowden
(4 months later)
David Brooks, the New York Times: 'The solitary leaker'David Brooks, the New York Times: 'The solitary leaker'
"But Big Brother is not the only danger facing the country. Another is the rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good. This is not a danger Snowden is addressing. In fact, he is making everything worse. For society to function well, there have to be basic levels of trust and cooperation, a respect for institutions and deference to common procedures. By deciding to unilaterally leak secret N.SA documents, Snowden has betrayed all of these things.""But Big Brother is not the only danger facing the country. Another is the rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good. This is not a danger Snowden is addressing. In fact, he is making everything worse. For society to function well, there have to be basic levels of trust and cooperation, a respect for institutions and deference to common procedures. By deciding to unilaterally leak secret N.SA documents, Snowden has betrayed all of these things."
Jeffrey Toobin, the New Yorker: 'Edward Snowden is no hero'Jeffrey Toobin, the New Yorker: 'Edward Snowden is no hero'
"For this, some, including my colleague John Cassidy, are hailing him as a hero and a whistleblower. He is neither. He is, rather, a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison … These were legally authorized programs; in the case of Verizon Business's phone records, Snowden certainly knew this, because he leaked the very court order that approved the continuation of the project. So he wasn't blowing the whistle on anything illegal; he was exposing something that failed to meet his own standards of propriety. The question, of course, is whether the government can function when all of its employees (and contractors) can take it upon themselves to sabotage the programs they don't like. That's what Snowden has done.""For this, some, including my colleague John Cassidy, are hailing him as a hero and a whistleblower. He is neither. He is, rather, a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison … These were legally authorized programs; in the case of Verizon Business's phone records, Snowden certainly knew this, because he leaked the very court order that approved the continuation of the project. So he wasn't blowing the whistle on anything illegal; he was exposing something that failed to meet his own standards of propriety. The question, of course, is whether the government can function when all of its employees (and contractors) can take it upon themselves to sabotage the programs they don't like. That's what Snowden has done."
Matt Miller, the Washington Post: 'Edward Snowden's grandiosity'Matt Miller, the Washington Post: 'Edward Snowden's grandiosity'
"There are people I respect who say Snowden is a hero. I think they're dead wrong. Thinking about 'big data' is a little like imagining how things look to God (assuming God exists). God may love you personally, but she's a little too busy to worry about whether you get that raise you deserve. The National Security Agency (NSA) may have access to every bit and byte in the land, but the unfathomable river of information their algorithms must mine means no one's focusing on the text you sent to that guy in accounting.""There are people I respect who say Snowden is a hero. I think they're dead wrong. Thinking about 'big data' is a little like imagining how things look to God (assuming God exists). God may love you personally, but she's a little too busy to worry about whether you get that raise you deserve. The National Security Agency (NSA) may have access to every bit and byte in the land, but the unfathomable river of information their algorithms must mine means no one's focusing on the text you sent to that guy in accounting."
Hector Villagra, Los Angeles Times: 'Washington's dark secrets'Hector Villagra, Los Angeles Times: 'Washington's dark secrets'
"The debate we are now having about government surveillance – to ensure that the government is complying with publicly enacted laws and acting in a manner consistent with American values – has become possible only because of "unauthorized disclosures" to the media. Instead of calling for an investigation of whistle-blowers, we should be asking ask why government officials were not the ones to disclose freely how they interpreted and applied the Patriot Act.""The debate we are now having about government surveillance – to ensure that the government is complying with publicly enacted laws and acting in a manner consistent with American values – has become possible only because of "unauthorized disclosures" to the media. Instead of calling for an investigation of whistle-blowers, we should be asking ask why government officials were not the ones to disclose freely how they interpreted and applied the Patriot Act."
Marcy Wheeler, emptywheeler: 'Edward Snowden is in distinguished company'Marcy Wheeler, emptywheeler: 'Edward Snowden is in distinguished company'
"What Snowden released on Section 215 – just a single 215 order to Verizon, without details on how this information is used – is far, far less than what DOJ and ODNI and Lisa Monaco pledged to try to release. Given that the collection is targeted on every single American indiscriminately, it won't tell the bad guys anything (except that they've been sucked into the same dragnet the rest of us have). And while it shows that FBI submits the order but the data gets delivered to NSA (which has some interesting implications), that's a source and method to game the law, not the source or method used to identify terrorists. So if Snowden committed treason, he did so doing far less than top members of our National Security establishment promised to do.""What Snowden released on Section 215 – just a single 215 order to Verizon, without details on how this information is used – is far, far less than what DOJ and ODNI and Lisa Monaco pledged to try to release. Given that the collection is targeted on every single American indiscriminately, it won't tell the bad guys anything (except that they've been sucked into the same dragnet the rest of us have). And while it shows that FBI submits the order but the data gets delivered to NSA (which has some interesting implications), that's a source and method to game the law, not the source or method used to identify terrorists. So if Snowden committed treason, he did so doing far less than top members of our National Security establishment promised to do."
Conor Friedersdorf, the Atlantic: 'Choose one: secrecy and democracy are incompatible'Conor Friedersdorf, the Atlantic: 'Choose one: secrecy and democracy are incompatible'
"But I regard Snowden's leak as obviously on the side of revealing a secret illegitimately kept, for reasons I lay out at length here. I'd encourage Marshall to grapple with that. Here's an initial prompt: given that attempts to challenge NSA surveillance in court have been subverted, national-security officials have blatantly lied to Congress about its nature, and the author of the legal language supposedly justifying it swears it violated the Patriot Act, why should we act as if it's as legitimate as any other policy?""But I regard Snowden's leak as obviously on the side of revealing a secret illegitimately kept, for reasons I lay out at length here. I'd encourage Marshall to grapple with that. Here's an initial prompt: given that attempts to challenge NSA surveillance in court have been subverted, national-security officials have blatantly lied to Congress about its nature, and the author of the legal language supposedly justifying it swears it violated the Patriot Act, why should we act as if it's as legitimate as any other policy?"
Adam Cohen, Time magazine: 'Edward Snowden: a modern-day Daniel Ellsberg, except for one key difference'Adam Cohen, Time magazine: 'Edward Snowden: a modern-day Daniel Ellsberg, except for one key difference'
"Ellsberg is also widely regarded as a hero today because history moved his way. There is general agreement now that it was high time we pulled out of Vietnam – and that there was little real damage to national security from the release of the Pentagon Papers. The more it appears that what the NSA has been doing is wrong, the more Snowden will look like a whistle-blower. History's verdict on Snowden will turn on whether he got the balance right: whether it turned out that we were more at risk of becoming a surveillance state than we were of terrorism.""Ellsberg is also widely regarded as a hero today because history moved his way. There is general agreement now that it was high time we pulled out of Vietnam – and that there was little real damage to national security from the release of the Pentagon Papers. The more it appears that what the NSA has been doing is wrong, the more Snowden will look like a whistle-blower. History's verdict on Snowden will turn on whether he got the balance right: whether it turned out that we were more at risk of becoming a surveillance state than we were of terrorism."
Kevin Gosztola, FireDogLake: 'US media's contempt & inability to comprehend what it means to be a whistleblowerKevin Gosztola, FireDogLake: 'US media's contempt & inability to comprehend what it means to be a whistleblower
"Not only do they ignore or disregard the fact that the government has carved out national security exceptions to protect power from disclosures that Snowden made by ensuring that he can be prosecuted, jailed and effectively silenced no matter how he makes disclosures, but they cheerlead for zealous prosecution of these individuals for periods of time that exceed the length of time they would ever advocate for torturers, war criminals or those who commit felonies in violation of laws intended to protect individual rights and liberty in the United States. Which means that when people like Edward Snowden come forward, not only do they have to fear their own government but they also have to fear their country's media and the pundits who populate the airwaves because they fully understand they will become victims of news coverage that might as well be paid propaganda produced by senior officials inside the national security state.""Not only do they ignore or disregard the fact that the government has carved out national security exceptions to protect power from disclosures that Snowden made by ensuring that he can be prosecuted, jailed and effectively silenced no matter how he makes disclosures, but they cheerlead for zealous prosecution of these individuals for periods of time that exceed the length of time they would ever advocate for torturers, war criminals or those who commit felonies in violation of laws intended to protect individual rights and liberty in the United States. Which means that when people like Edward Snowden come forward, not only do they have to fear their own government but they also have to fear their country's media and the pundits who populate the airwaves because they fully understand they will become victims of news coverage that might as well be paid propaganda produced by senior officials inside the national security state."
Steven Bucci, USA Today: 'Edward Snowden broke the law'Steven Bucci, USA Today: 'Edward Snowden broke the law'
"Individuals don't get to decide for themselves what should be classified. If an individual knowingly has given classified material to unauthorized person, it's a grave breach of trust and law … Mr Snowden decided it was fine to break the law, and he should be called to account for it. These leaks never occur without repercussions. One hopes that any damage to the nation's security does not cause loss of life. Some Americans may lionize Snowden, but there are terrorists who surely do.""Individuals don't get to decide for themselves what should be classified. If an individual knowingly has given classified material to unauthorized person, it's a grave breach of trust and law … Mr Snowden decided it was fine to break the law, and he should be called to account for it. These leaks never occur without repercussions. One hopes that any damage to the nation's security does not cause loss of life. Some Americans may lionize Snowden, but there are terrorists who surely do."
Geoffrey R Stone, Huffington Post: 'Edward Snowden: hero or traitor?'Geoffrey R Stone, Huffington Post: 'Edward Snowden: hero or traitor?'
"In the absence of such a procedure, what should Edward Snowden have done? Probably, he should have presented his concerns to senior, responsible members of Congress. But the one thing he most certainly should not have done is to decide on the basis of his own ill-informed, arrogant and amateurish judgment that he knows better than everyone else in government how best to serve the national interest. The rule of law matters, and no one gave Edward Snowden the authority to make that decision for the nation. His conduct was more than unacceptable; it was criminal.""In the absence of such a procedure, what should Edward Snowden have done? Probably, he should have presented his concerns to senior, responsible members of Congress. But the one thing he most certainly should not have done is to decide on the basis of his own ill-informed, arrogant and amateurish judgment that he knows better than everyone else in government how best to serve the national interest. The rule of law matters, and no one gave Edward Snowden the authority to make that decision for the nation. His conduct was more than unacceptable; it was criminal."
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.