U.S. Willing to Hold Talks With Snowden in Exchange For Him Returning and Pleading Guilty First - Polidicks

[quote]WASHINGTON — Attorney General [URL="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/eric_h_holder_jr/index.html?inline=nyt-per"]Eric H. Holder Jr.[/URL] said Thursday that the United States was willing to discuss how the criminal case against Edward J. Snowden would be handled, but only if Mr. Snowden pleaded guilty first.[/quote] [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/us/politics/us-willing-to-hold-talks-if-snowden-pleads-guilty.html?hpw&rref=politics[/url] Good offer

yea he's not going to fall for that.

Wow America is both dumb and evil.

yeah i dont think anyone would risk an indefinite prison sentence just to "talk"

Pretty sure that was well thought out.

[quote] but only if Mr. Snowden pleaded guilty first.[/quote] you heard it first! our esteemed eric holder believes people are guilty before proven innocent! [editline]25th January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Reshy;43667199]Wow America is both dumb and evil.[/QUOTE] eric holder is worse than incompident, he's actually purgered himself a dozen times on tons of stuff infront of congress and broken tons of laws but because congress is so fucking partisan today nobody will impeach him

America is really good at negotiations. I can see now why they are the friendliest country on the planet.

Do they really expect this to work?

i hope to god the next person in office pardons edward snowden

They could have at least bribed him with the possibility of milk and cookies, christ they were so close too!

"Just come home and we can talk...about how we're going to throw you in jail for the rest of your life just like Bradley Manning." Yeah, I think I'd pass on that offer. The only way he will ever set foot on American soil again is if we finally elect someone who isn't a slave to the national security state that will grant him a pardon. Maybe in 40 or 50 years.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;43667828]"Just come home and we can talk...about how we're going to throw you in jail for the rest of your life just like Bradley Manning." [/QUOTE] You mean Chelsea Manning.

[QUOTE=Draze;43667895]You mean Chelsea Manning.[/QUOTE] Manning has been held in prison for so long that it changed schler gender

[QUOTE=Reshy;43667199]Wow America is both dumb and evil.[/QUOTE] Ironically Snowden said that America is fundamentally good but corrupted or something along those lines.

In all fairness, he is guilty of the crimes he's being charged with. The argument is whether or not the good of what he did pardons the crimes he's committed. It's not up for debate, though, whether or not leaking secret government files is illegal or not; it is, plain and simple.

[QUOTE=IceWarrior98;43667797]America is really good at negotiations. I can see now why they are the friendliest country on the planet.[/QUOTE] [i]Americans[/i] aren't the [i]American[/i] government, you ass.

[QUOTE=PolarEventide;43668449]In all fairness, he is guilty of the crimes he's being charged with. The argument is whether or not the good of what he did pardons the crimes he's committed. It's not up for debate, though, whether or not leaking secret government files is illegal or not; it is, plain and simple.[/QUOTE] Because whistleblowing laws don't apply to the trillion government contractors the NSA employs and, until recently, gave sensitive access to. That's why it's illegal. Let's have those arguments, too: - The scope and purpose of whistleblowing protections - Why the NSA has an army of private contractors instead of employees to handle SIGINT matters relating to national security Snowden knew exactly what he was doing, and the only "harm" he's caused the US government is embarrassment and letting them get caught being bad by the rest of the world.

Yeah, who wants to bet these "talks" (and possibly the preceding "trial") entail a sharpened garrote?

[QUOTE=ZakkShock;43668556][i]Americans[/i] aren't the [i]American[/i] government, you ass.[/QUOTE] Not sure about now but last time I checked most Americans were against Snowden and Manning as whistleblowers.

[QUOTE=VinLAURiA;43668760]Yeah, who wants to bet these "talks" (and possibly the preceding "trial") entail a sharpened garrote?[/QUOTE] Nah. He'll just get gitmo'd. Or put in solitary confinement for a year like Manning.

[QUOTE=ZakkShock;43668556][i]Americans[/i] aren't the [i]American[/i] government, you ass.[/QUOTE] Here, let George Carlin explain it to you: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCPlkw6dO0[/media]

[QUOTE=Sableye;43667769]you heard it first! our esteemed eric holder believes people are guilty before proven innocent![/QUOTE] But Snowden straight up said he leaked the crap

[QUOTE=ZakkShock;43668556][i]Americans[/i] aren't the [i]American[/i] government, you ass.[/QUOTE] The American government represents the people of the United States. By the people, for the people, right? Why so nit picky?

[QUOTE=IceWarrior98;43667797]America is really good at negotiations. I can see now why they are the friendliest country on the planet.[/QUOTE] We don't negotiate with terrorists because we suck at it.

[QUOTE=Sableye;43667769]you heard it first! our esteemed eric holder believes people are guilty before proven innocent![/QUOTE] I'm not saying i don't support what snowden did (i do) but there's not really anything to prove

[QUOTE=IceWarrior98;43669209]The American government represents the people of the United States. By the people, for the people, right? Why so nit picky?[/QUOTE] yes that is theoretically how its supposed to work. The US government has not accurately represented the American public for a very long time.

[QUOTE=IceWarrior98;43669209]The American government represents the people of the United States. By the people, for the people, right? Why so nit picky?[/QUOTE] The [i]United States[/i] government is elected by the American people for the American people, but the [i]majority party[/i] ultimately dictates what the United States government does, and the majority party does not represent the American people as a whole; consider, for example, that in the most recent presidential election, Barack Obama (Democrat) and Mitt Romney (Republican) both received almost half of the popular vote each. Barack Obama won by something like one-tenth of one percent of the popular vote. You cannot say that Barack Obama's views and actions represent those of the American people, because Barack Obama was only supported by one-half of the population. Therefore, no, you cannot fairly say that the United States government accurately represents the wishes of the American people. [editline]25th January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=elixwhitetail;43668806]Nah. He'll just get gitmo'd. Or put in solitary confinement for a year like Manning.[/QUOTE] The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a military prison for prisoners of war. Therefore, Edward Snowden could not be sent there in any circumstance, as he is an American citizen and (in the eyes of the federal government) a domestic criminal, not a prisoner of war.

Yes, come back to America Snowden; so we can give you the death penalty.

I sense a ploy

[QUOTE=PolarEventide;43668449]In all fairness, he is guilty of the crimes he's being charged with. The argument is whether or not the good of what he did pardons the crimes he's committed. It's not up for debate, though, whether or not leaking secret government files is illegal or not; it is, plain and simple.[/QUOTE] Some people seem to think that despite outright admitting to having broken the law it would be unreasonable to ask him to agree that he has broken the law (aka pleading guilty). [QUOTE=elixwhitetail;43668602]Because whistleblowing laws don't apply to the trillion government contractors the NSA employs and, until recently, gave sensitive access to.[/QUOTE] Yes they absolutely do. Who told you contractors aren't protected by whistleblowing laws? What's illegal is going to the press, making no attempt to actually follow those whistleblowing laws, not to mention then stealing more documents and taking them to a foreign country to hold as collateral. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 covers all federal employees in intelligence roles, contractor or staff, and Obama's addition in 2012 expanded the definition of whistleblowing to cover more potential topics and prevent people from being silenced for fear of not being protected. The point of whistleblowing protection is so that employees have legal recourse to affect change [I]without[/I] needing to leak documents to the press, and by extension the rest of the world. It was created because people like Daniel Ellsberg had no choice under the law but to go to the press when their direct superiors wouldn't listen. The whistleblowing protections have nothing to do with the Snowden case because he deliberately chose not to use them.