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You are here: Home / Open Threads / So, Ed Snowden–Greatest Living American, or Greatest American of All Time? Discuss.

So, Ed Snowden–Greatest Living American, or Greatest American of All Time? Discuss.

by Soonergrunt|  December 25, 20132:50 pm| 54 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Open Thread.

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Previous Post: « For a Few Special Commenters
Next Post: Now I got a reason, it’s no real reason »

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54Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    December 25, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    Soonertroll.

  2. 2.

    Yatsuno

    December 25, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    I hate you.*

    * Not really. But man am I getting sick of this subject.

    Also too: Rand Paul ruined Festivus for us all.

  3. 3.

    Soonergrunt

    December 25, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    @Baud: I’m here to serve.
    @Yatsuno: It IS an open thread, you know…

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 2:58 pm

    I say he’s the greatest living Chicom mole ever to bang a totes hot pole dancing girlfriend in Hawaii.
    While we can’t know for sure, it’s clear we should speculate that The Smoking Man recruited him to pull docs from the NSA. But then the black liquid eyed aliens got wind of his existence and forced him to run to HK, then Russia!
    I heard from Andy K and VDE that Snowden is also doing gay snuff pron. With furries and, if the price is right (wink, wink) other special requests.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    December 25, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    First, he ruins Buddhism and now Festivus. Why does Rand Paul hate religion?

  6. 6.

    Skerry

    December 25, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    Airing of the grievances: Sitting here waiting on my ex-husband to show up. We have always done Christmas together with the kids. He was supposed to be here 4 hours ago. He is bring the meat for our meal, too. Not a very good Christmas so far. Kids aren’t little anymore, but come on. They don’t want to open presents without their dad here.

  7. 7.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 25, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    This is good news for rand Paul.

  8. 8.

    Yatsuno

    December 25, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    @Baud: He’d better keep his mitts off my Zoroastrianism dammit. That religion has fire, his hair weasel might get singed.

  9. 9.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    Awaiting the movement to substitute Griftwald, Snowjob, Assange and Ronaldus Magnus on Mt Rushmore in place of the failures depicted there now.

  10. 10.

    Dead Ernest (Thought wrangler)

    December 25, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    @Soonergrunt:

    SoonerG, gee, perhaps you were thinking if there were a few more threads (open or not) devoted to this subject, that maybe the other threads would be left alone?
    I think its a bit more like piling up extra shit and watermelon a few feet from the picnic table to keep the flies off it since they would have their own feast. I think you just end up with even more flies in your yard.
    None the less, I appreciate the effort.

  11. 11.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Did you get new my little ponies for your collection this year?

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    The kindest thing I can think about Ed Snowden is that he meant well, but chose a course of action that probably caused needless damage to his country’s interests while not helping his own credibility. Also, getting himself exiled from the US wasn’t too smart.

    Repost from previous thread:
    I’ve seen Captain Phillips, and I really like it. Best movie I’ve ever seen about a hostage situation; it rings true at every moment and never tries to dress reality up to create storytelling beats. Tom Hanks is superb as Phillips, and newcomer Barkhad Abdi is utterly believable as the lead pirate. (And comparisons between Abdi’s acting and Hanks’, claiming that the newbie blows the two-time Oscar winner away, are just stupid. Acting is not a competitive sport in that sense.)

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    @Skerry: I hope he’s just delayed and everything is ok.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 3:05 pm

    @Botsplainer: No, did you send them to Cole to forward to me?
    That would be awesome, dudebro! Thank you so much!

  15. 15.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    @Skerry:

    In all seriousness, that sucks. You might want to rethink that tradition going forward. (25 years of family law practice speaking).

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Also, getting himself exiled from the US wasn’t too smart.

    As opposed to?

  17. 17.

    Baud

    December 25, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Zoroaster gets a raw deal when it comes to religious studies. He’s like the Pete Best of prophets.

  18. 18.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    @Botsplainer: No, did you send them to Cole to forward to me?
    That would be awesome, dudebro! Thank you so much!

    Uh oh. Maybe they got, uh, diverted.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    I have my doubts about The Smoking Man’s loyalties. I hear William B. Davis is Canadian.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    @Baud:
    But I liked Thus Spake Zoroaster. Especially the trumpet fanfare at the beginning.

  21. 21.

    Soonergrunt

    December 25, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    @Dead Ernest (Thought wrangler): Alternately, you could recognize blindingly obvious snark when you read it and then talk about something you find interesting, the thread being open, and all.

    @Amir Khalid: I haven’t seen Captain Phillips. I’ll watch it when it comes to HBO or PPV. On a side note, there’s still some question about what happened to all the money that was taken from the ship’s safe (several thousand dollars) and was taken into the lifeboat by the pirates, as I understand it. I don’t know the story, but the speculation ranges from Phillips having taken it to one or more of the SEALs having taken it. If the latter is true, they’ll get caught, eventually. I’d like to believe that nobody did anything wrong, but that’s usually not the way the world works out.

  22. 22.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    @Botsplainer: Oh, man. I hope you didn’t send any of your most lovingly mane brushed favs.
    Cole’s in a dark place these days.

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 25, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    Ahem.

    Alex Jones is the greatest living American and the greatest American of all time.

    According to Alex Jones, in his own little world of paisley skies and unicorns.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    December 25, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    Snowden- fucking traitor

  25. 25.

    Baud

    December 25, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    @Soonergrunt:

    You know what they say, money wants to be free.

  26. 26.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I suspect there’s money to be made in Brony-themed fleshlights, is all I’m sayin’.

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 25, 2013 at 3:20 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Surely there must be a floating building somewhere that can be maneuvered over Rand Paul and then stop floating, making the world a much better place.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    @Baud:
    I must ask: who is the Ringo Starr of prophets?

  29. 29.

    ruemara

    December 25, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    I had a girlfriend come over for a bit of holiday and made her get up early because she was sleeping next to the kitchen and I got up to bake paleobiscuits and cook bacon and brussel sprouts. Then I made her a batch of healthy 2 ingredient cookies, only I tripped and accidentally spilled a whole bag of peanut butter chips into the batter. Whoops. I wish she could have stayed longer. I took her out to see where the wild turkeys nest and they showed up 10 minutes after I put her back on the train. All in all, most excellent holiday.

    @Villago Delenda Est: You have interesting ideas and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter. But I do think that counts as cruelty to buildings.

  30. 30.

    Botsplainer

    December 25, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    “Ed Snowden is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

  31. 31.

    hoodie

    December 25, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    @Amir Khalid: We enjoyed Captain Phillips. You’re right about Hanks and Abdi, both excellent in their own ways. Interesting juxtaposition of Phillips going on the lifeboat to protect his crew, and the Abdi character abandoning it to save his own ass (the latter a fine example of Randian ethics). The SEALs were scary good at their job (if the account is to be believed), can’t imagine making those shots under those conditions.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    December 25, 2013 at 3:30 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Ringo Starr

  33. 33.

    gogol's wife

    December 25, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    My cats are sensing that invaders are coming into their realm in just half an hour. They are nervous and antsy and driving me nuts. But as soon as a strange human enters, they will cease to give any signs of life. Louis will go in the bedroom closet and Sasha will curl up under twelve blankets in the upstairs study.

    Merry Christmas, everyone! Or whatever you may be celebrating.

  34. 34.

    Cassidy

    December 25, 2013 at 3:43 pm

    @hoodie: It’s DEVGRU. They’re a Tier 1 asset.

  35. 35.

    Anton

    December 25, 2013 at 3:43 pm

    Hey Soonergrunt – no fair keeping the NSA blog comments division working during the holidays!

  36. 36.

    danielx

    December 25, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    Surely you jest….everybody knows that Dick Cheney….er, Bush, George W. Bush! is the greatest living American and was teh GRATEST PREZNIT EVAR.

    Just ask somebody. Anybody. Anybody?

  37. 37.

    LT

    December 25, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Snowden’s Christmas message, Channel 4, via some Mick.

  38. 38.

    Talentless Hack

    December 25, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    Enemy of the state. That is all.

  39. 39.

    Dead Ernest

    December 25, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    @Soonergrunt:

    Shucks. Looks like we crossed the streams (of irony). While I don’t think I’d combine ‘obviously’ and ‘blinding’ myself, I was attempting to leverage what you said, to amplify *my interest* in diminishing the overwhelming of Open Threads (by those people) with those comments.

    I accept that I failed.
    ::looks at own shoes. Shuffles away::

  40. 40.

    Roy G.

    December 25, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    Why not change things up and have a jack0ff session for all of the Keith Alexander fanbois that infest these threads? Some good hard authoritarian love and Total Information Dominance from a man in uniform ought to cure those nasty thoughts about Snowden.

  41. 41.

    Felonius Monk

    December 25, 2013 at 4:05 pm

    Too bad Ed Snowden isn’t a real, true patriotic American like Phil Robertson ’cause Freedom and Duck Dynasty.

  42. 42.

    lol

    December 25, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Why haven’t we gotten a Christmas message from Snowden’s fellow whistleblower, Aldrich Ames? Probably because Obummer still has him jailed as a political prisoner.

  43. 43.

    Jane2

    December 25, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Somewhere there’s a flying f., but I can’t find it.

  44. 44.

    Dead Ernest (Thought Wrangler)

    December 25, 2013 at 4:09 pm

    @Dead Ernest:
    .. Still an aspiring Thought Wrangler, but like what can happen to the other rodeo clowns, sometimes the Thoughts wrangle back …and best ya.
    Wrangling Thoughts is tricky.
    No idea how them Thought Leaders pull that off (unless the thoughts are sickly, weak, and you just gotta lead em to the abattoir).

  45. 45.

    LT

    December 25, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    So, John Yoo–Greatest Living American, or Greatest American of All Time? Discuss.

  46. 46.

    Mike in NC

    December 25, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    Greatest American of All Time?

    Zombie Reagan! That was too easy.

  47. 47.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    @LT: Harold Koh did a pretty good Yoo impersonation. It had all the guys in the admin laughing.

  48. 48.

    LT

    December 25, 2013 at 4:41 pm

    @Corner Stone: I was trying to be gentle. Christmas and all.

  49. 49.

    Joseph Nobles

    December 25, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    What will Snowden Claus bring us next Xmas?

  50. 50.

    Arclite

    December 25, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    So, Ed Snowden–Greatest Living American, or Greatest American of All Time?

    Nope, Glenn Greenwald.

  51. 51.

    maya

    December 25, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    Let’s just leave it at “American of the Century”. Who knows who Ayn Rand will inspire long after we’re Monsanto Meal.

  52. 52.

    Corner Stone

    December 25, 2013 at 6:07 pm

    Man, how exactly did the unabomber go through all this beard growing bullshit?
    I miss a couple days of shaving and it’s like all crazytown up in this piece.
    How do you bearded wisemen/wisewomen of BJ freakin’ stand it?

  53. 53.

    chopper

    December 26, 2013 at 9:54 am

    @Corner Stone:

    How do you fuck up growing a beard?

  54. 54.

    Tones

    December 30, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    Beautiful, just marvelous.Thanks!

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