Define a patriot for me

[fox1]

I have been having some pretty good discussions with a friend of mine and we ended up talking about Snowden. In my view he might have released some things that was better left unsaid but I believe his true intent was to alert the American people about a true reckless disregard for their right to privacy.

I know this is a touchy subject but if someone who sees an injustice and basically gives up his comfortable life to alert others to the growing danger of an over reaching government isn't supported by those he tried to alert then will anyone ever have the courage to go out on a limb and speak up again?
Is he a traitor or a patriot ?

[txwhitetail]

Traitor

[niceg3s]

Traitor

x2

[Man]

I have always thought of him as a Patriot

[tward1604]

traitor. But I mean did anyone think the government wasn't spying on them already? No government on the planet that wants to last doesn't watch it people.

And dude may have had good intentions and felt he was doing right but he went about it the wrong way, and hiding doesn't help his cause. If he were a true patriot he would've done his deed then marched right up to the front doors of the FBI and turned himself in.

[bpa556]

Traitor


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[fox1]

Traitor

I guess my question should be, What makes him a traitor in your opinion ?

[fox1]

traitor. But I mean did anyone think the government wasn't spying on them already? No government on the planet that wants to last doesn't watch it people.

And dude may have had good intentions and felt he was doing right but he went about it the wrong way, and hiding doesn't help his cause. If he were a true patriot he would've done his deed then marched right up to the front doors of the FBI and turned himself in.

According to him he actually didn't think he would still be alive. How else could he have done it ?

[Tx_Wader]

Traitor: one who commits treason

Patriot: one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests

Snowden is a traitor.

[Patriot-2000]

I'm retired Army .. Part of my job was Operations security...

Privacy issues or not .. He probably in inadvertently caused a few people to lose their lives .. So in my book he is a Traitor along with Manning !

[fox1]

Traitor: one who commits treason

Patriot: one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests

Snowden is a traitor.

By the definition you used all of our Founding Fathers where traitors.

[fox1]

I'm retired Army .. Part of my job was Operations security...

Privacy issues or not .. He probably in inadvertently caused a few people to lose their lives .. So in my book he is a Traitor along with Manning !

Fair point

[SwampRabbit]

Patriot vs Traitor can often times take time to resolve and sort it self out. Labels get applied to soon too often that fail to stand the test of time. So many "patriots" that turned out to be traitors and "traitors" that turned out to be patriots. History doesn't unravel in a day, week, months, or even a couple years.

With regards to Snowden, it is too early to tell. However, there is one characteristic of a Patriot that I tend to hold true: backbone. When a guy leaks a bunch of stuff and runs and hides, I just don't see any backbone in a move like that. I don't consider it a "Patriotic move" to leak stuff to everybody and hide in a country that does the same thing to their own citizens... if not worse. This of course is based on what we know today. Don't really have a clue how much of his life was really in danger, etc. What I know is that while it is good to know about what he revealed (not the details), the manner in which he went about it (giving out sensitive details that hurt real people) doesn't follow the MO of what I'd called a true patriot.

[tward1604]

I lost friends the day Manning pulled his crap. He too is a traitor.

[fox1]

Patriot vs Traitor can often times take time to resolve and sort it self out. Labels get applied to soon too often that fail to stand the test of time. So many "patriots" that turned out to be traitors and "traitors" that turned out to be patriots. History doesn't unravel in a day, week, months, or even a couple years.

With regards to Snowden, it is too early to tell. However, there is one characteristic of a Patriot that I tend to hold true: backbone. When a guy leaks a bunch of stuff and runs and hides, I just don't see any backbone in a move like that. I don't consider it a "Patriotic move" to leak stuff to everybody and hide in a country that does the same thing to their own citizens... if not worse. This of course is based on what we know today. Don't really have a clue how much of his life was really in danger, etc. What I know is that while it is good to know what he revealed, the manner in which he went about it doesn't follow the MO of what I'd called a true patriot.

I can see your point and your right about time will tell but if I had the info he had and wanted to release it to the public I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have remained where the Government could get their hands on me and shut me up.
I think we could all agree that if they had captured him early on we would all be saying " Who is this snowden guy ?"