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I'm not convinced one way or the other on whether Assange & Wikileaks are making the world better, but there's no denying that they've released some pretty surprising and/or significant things in the past. I find it strange to question whether someone can do something they've already done several times over.

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Arguably, we would not have known about the mass trampling of our 4th Amendment rights were it not for Snowden. How could you deny the inherent merit in that?

Well, I know it's an unpopular view, but I think the US government doing that was okay. I don't pretend that's grounded in principle; I don't think that other governments should be able to do it, or that there was no potential for abuse. I think the national security rationale for the programme was valid. (perhaps not in law, I acknowledge)

I agree completely that the leak was very significant, but my preference (I think; not 100%) would be that Snowden hadn't leaked.

Wait, you're saying you are okay with the US government doing it but not other governments?

How does that work?

I think it’s called “Patriotism”. See also “American exceptionalism”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism

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