@mattbrowne I agree.
Like Ellsberg, Snowden has confirmed what many people have suspected for a long time, taking suspicions out of the realm of conspiracy theory to a reality we all can now deal with. This is very helpful to a society which demands openness.
I think, and since yeaterday this has been confirmed by reports out of Sheremetevo Airport, Snowden is asking for asylum from Russia merely in order to get legal transit through Russian territory to either a plane to one of the three Latin American countries that haven’t been cowed by the US, or into downtown Moscow to one of their embassies. Putin has made it clear he does not want him as he is just a headache. Putin has the same tech capabilities as the US to spy on his own people and other countries, and as a former KGB official (Spetznaz as well?) probably has no qualms about doing so. So Snowden’s data is probably old news to him and serves no purpose other than as an irritant between the US and himself in upcoming talks.
Some interesting info on Snowden that isn’t discussed much in the media has come about. He is epileptic. He revealed a CIA operation that, to me, confirms which strata of American society they actually work for:
“Snowden said that in 2007 the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for maintaining computer network security. Snowden described his CIA experience in Geneva as “formative”, stating that the CIA deliberately got a Swiss banker drunk and encouraged him to drive home. When the latter was arrested, a CIA operative offered to intervene and later recruited the banker. The revelations come at a sensitive time for US-Swiss relations as the Swiss government attempts to pass legislation allowing for more banking transparency.”
So, the Swiss want to legislate more openness as to their international banking—to no longer be a shelter for the international class of tax-evading wealthy (a policy criticized in public comments by US presidents since at least Dwight Eisenhower)—but now we have a CIA operation designed to sabatage that legislation. Like many of these revelations from Ellsberg to Snowden, this is no surprise, but it is important confirmation.