re: #43 Eventual Carrion

But didn’t some of Snowjobs released stolen documents show that that is exactly what has been going on? There were oversights convened and suggestions put forth to rectify shortcomings that were being revealed. Seems like that was happening. My concern is that these recommendations and suggestions are not being carried out. I would like some assurance that this was happening.

Emphasis mine - my take is that we’re more likely to get such assurance given the current situation, which is its benefit (it also has very real negative consequences, obviously). I don’t think the current scrutiny of the Patriot Act would be happening without Snowden’s actions, for example.

re: #49 Feline Fearless Leader

I think Greenwald and Snowden have made that effort more difficult with their actions. They distract from what the true discussion would be about with their grandstanding. And they’ve polarized the camps further and made the discussion harder to have without the whole “patriotism”, “traitor”, etc. etc. crap coming out.

I think this is a very reasonable point. But I do think you have to wonder whether there would have been much “true discussion” if the Snowden breach had never happened.