Sorry, Mr. Secretary

[Minimalist]

[JuliaL]

I can't imagine why Snowden would return.
No way would I believe any promises by the state were I him.
Whistle blowers are usually punished pour encourager les autres.
But I can't imagine why Stalin's diplomats abroad would return home to be purged either.

[Excited Penguin]

Those news are so 2014.

[Brakeman]

If Snowden had exposed Nixon's government, Kerry's tune would have been completely different. The bastard.

[Pyrrho]

Kerry is saying a bunch of bullshit.  If Snowden has any sense at all, he will not willingly return to the U.S. unless he first gets a full Presidential pardon for everything he has ever done.  If he willingly returns on any other terms, he is a moron.

Kerry's crap about Snowden going to Cuba is an attempt at obfuscation, as Cuba was not the final destination, only a stopping point along the way (just like Russia was supposed to be, before the U.S. cancelled Snowden's passport).  And Kerry's nonsense about conflating love and trust is moronic.  One can love something or someone, without trusting that someone or something.  In Snowden's case, he seems to love the U.S. and (wisely) does not trust the U.S.

Kerry should stop talking nonsense and "wise up" instead of telling Snowden to man up.  Kerry is a dishonest piece of shit.

[Jackalope]

Kerry's rhetoric has crossed over into the surreal. I mean yeah, it makes perfect sense for someone who blew the whistle on abuses related to the US justice system to trust that same justice system.

Yeah, makes perfect sense.

[Tiberius]

Maybe we could ask Bradley Manning for an opinion?

Her name is Chelsea Manning now, FYI.

[Mudhammam]

I like how Kerry pretends that we're all ignorant of the charges Snowden faces, which, filed under the Espionage Act, wouldn't allow him to cite a defense involving his whistle-blowing motives or the multiple vindications that the President's handpicked committee, federal judges, and Congress have all handed him.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Snowden did the right thing. The fact that our government seeks to prosecute him for that bespeaks the corrupt, cynical nature of our government.

Snowden did all Americans a favor. Too bad so many of them --us -- have our heads down in the pigtrough that we cannot be bothered to pressure the government to do the right thing: drop the charges, reinstate his passport, and ask him to testify in Congress about what he knows regarding the Security State.

The current government would prosecute Ellsberg, too. Regarding transparency and civil liberties, they are no better than Nixon's administration at all, and in many ways, worse, given the technology available.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Ten score years ago, defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?

Watch the cities rise
Another ship arrives
Earth's melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds, and never knowing

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?

The guns replace the plow, facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dreams's gone stale, but still, let hope prevail
History's debt won't be repaid

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?