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Comment by fouric | Hacker News Reader

Can someone explain why this is newsworthy, or why Snowden's words in particular are valuable?

He's the guy who informed us all that Alexander is a criminal. Having paid a pretty full price for doing that he's definitely allowed to express an opinion on Alexander now cashing in embracing the corruption in big tech and with the sellers of the "Amazon Microphone" [1]

He's got a right to be bitter when he's defended the interests of the people at considerable personal cost from this criminal, who is now getting filthy rich rather than defending charges in a court of law. Beyond that, he actually knows something about surveillance and the surveillance state. He's followed it pretty closely. So far his opinions on the subject that I've noticed have been utterly sensible, well informed, well reasoned and worthy of serious consideration by anyone interested in the topic.

[1] Amazon PR apparently hate their listening device being called the "Amazon Microphone" It seems to convey what it is quite well to people who get bamboozled when recent tech is involved.

I think you are setting a very low bar for “filthy rich”.

Eye of the beholder. I think you're delusional in the extreme if you think a million bucks a year for attending a couple of meetings doesn't. It surely isn't his way of supporting the American people. He's doing it for the cash.

What percentage of people do you think earn a million (for the most part time of part time gigs)? Would any of them be "poor" ?

So now what percentage of those with military careers? Do you think on the standards of the military, ie his standards, a million a year isn't filthy rich? It seems to me like a lot more than they report those spying for foreign powers got paid!

Snowden is seen as a hero to many for fighting back against the “big guy” (US government). He was a nobody who embarrassed the government and now they want revenge. By not treating him fairly (such as refusing to guarantee a fair and public trial) and leaving him exiled in Russia for almost a decade, he’s become a martyr or sorts. It doesn’t help that the government has also intimidated people he’s been affiliated with (eg. Laura Poitras). As such, some view his words as having more weight than some Joe Shmoe on the street.

Put simply: he fought back against the schoolyard bully

Not everyone buys that narrative.

Surely enough "buy that narrative" to make it newsworthy yes?

I’m curious what about my “narrative” is incorrect? The only opinion part in that post was speculation on why those facts would cause people to value what he says.

Snowden leaked documents from the NSA revealing illegal mass surveillance. See here for more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden

I'm aware of what he did. That doesn't make him an authority on anything.

If a person of Snowden's reputation is not enough for you, who is?

Nobody, because they don't want the issue discussed, so they are going to attempt to discredit.

"If a person of Snowden's reputation is not enough for you, who is?"

I don't think anyone seems to grasp the OP's question.

Snowden is a low level analyst who leaked some relevant information. He seems like a smart guy. But none of this makes a person's opinion particularly informed or newsworthy, especially on these kinds of board level, inner circle type dealings.

I don’t get this logic. What does his reputation have to do with what the parent is saying? Nothing that Snowden is saying here draws on any particular expertise or inside information. The point is that this is no different than you or I criticizing the hiring decision.

Why would you not want to at least hear someone's opinion, even if you discard it immediately thereafter?

Apart from his actions, he's very good at his job and argues and formulates his ideas and thoughts very carefully.

He's a leading thinker in our time, because he puts his thoughts out there in a new way, he's making well-reasoned arguments and he has a platform to spread his ideas.

It’s hard to square this response with what his tweets actually say. Did you read it?

It turns out "Hey Alexa" is short for "Hey Keith Alexander." Yes, the Keith Alexander personally responsible for the unlawful mass surveillance programs that caused a global scandal. And Amazon Web Services (AWS) host ~6% of all websites

That’s it. There is no new information or insight or “thought leadership” in that comment. We all known who Gen. Alexander is. It might as well be from anybody.

The question I'm answering is why Snowden's words in particular are valuable?, and it's not about any particular tweet. That they are short, comes with the medium.

But the whole article is specifically about his tweet. That was the parent’s point.

Reminding the world at large what Gen. Alexander actually did is important, the world has a short attention span.

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