Terthna
Professional Lurker
If you're worried about that, you don't have any allies.
United States Discussion of Snowden, Assange and government secret keeping in general
- Thread starter Abhishekm
- Start date
This is what the military and intel community don't get, or do not want to get; they treat most of our 'allies' as semi-trustworthy vassals, not legit partners (unless they have nukes), and wonder why a lot of the world's image of, and trust in, the US gov and military has been consistently declining at home and abroad.
Terthna
Professional Lurker
Then humanity is doomed.
Maybe it's time to change that, because if that's the case, then nothing says secret long or forever unless you start killing people regularly KGB style.
A lot of the money used in the intel community, including the nice black project funds under their control (or the DoE's but that's close enough to the same thing) could go to other causes that actually benefit the American people materially, instead of just letting DC play it's chess games.
Plus it would let the public finally have a crack at the black tech that ex-Skunk Works Lockheed VP said would be letting us travel to the stars if it wasn't in black projects. Secrecy is less important than survival, and holding that shit back from humanity, never mind the US public, is arrogance of the highest order.
The intel community needs to check it's ego, and realize it's secrets are less important than what it is hiding could offer humanity, never mind the US public.
Terthna
Professional Lurker
There's an argument to be made that perhaps the reason the world works that way, is because the intelligence communites of the world are invested in ensuring that it continues to do so.
Yep; they do not want to give up the power they have, and an open world that didn't need spies would mean thier agencies and such would no longer be needed.
Power corrupts, and the power of 'Classified' stamps and all that goes with it is about as close to absolute power as you can get in the real world, and corrupts just as surely.
LindyAF
Well-known member
Off topic, but I mean that's just true. The US "allies" are pretty much just the outer imperial provinces.
I'm not too worried if the washington, london, etc. octupi spy on each other. Although if (as the glowies and pro-glowies allege) it's expected that they do so, then it's absolutely shameless to claim that revealing this fact to one another somehow damages diplomacy between them.
The real matter is that this is used as a pretext for them all to get around technicalities such as illegalities of spying on the American, British, etc. people.
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You know, I'm just going to straight-up ask - @Zachowon , are you okay with the NSA and others from within the intelligence apparatus spying on Americans? Because I'm getting that feeling from you. You seem far more butthurt about that fact that Snowden didn't do this "by the book" than you are by the crimes he exposed, which makes me wonder if you don't feel these were crimes. Let's completely ignore the fact that if Snowden had done as you say that he would likely be dead and we would never have heard of what was going on - focus entirely on the domestic spying that was exposed. Are you okay with that domestic spying?
It depends if we are taking what he leaked into context or out.
Because there is a lot more then simple "Domestic spying"
Spying on innocents? No.
That is all I am gonna say, because I know where I stand, it is just hard to explain in this context.
Those not in bed with foreign anything.
Okay, so that happened and as far as anyone can tell is still happening, and it seems to me like you're glossing over that in order to be mad at Snowden.
Did it?
There is context missing, always is
And you're just proving my point.
And this is why you get viewed the way you do. The government is spying on American citizens in search of "domestic terrorism" and you're just going on about "context" and saying "just trust me guys." Nah, can't/won't. Trust is something that must be earned and must be maintained, and that especially goes for the government. So I'm going to keep calling Snowden a hero and keep wondering why you, who describes himself as a patriot, seems to just want to gloss over the crimes against the American people he exposed, apparently just because you don't think he went about it the right way.
The NSA can not spy on US Citizens.
Yet they have done so and continue to do so.
LindyAF
Well-known member
Hmmm the rules say they don't though so clearly they don't.
Don't you trust the glow-in-the-dark-americans?
/s