Rand Paul Explains Why He Would Not Pardon Edward Snowden

Peace&Freedom said:
Rand should have said "there are rules for protecting American secrets, but there are way too many rules, and way too many secrets. The government classifies about 100 million NEW documents every year. Secrecy was originally only supposed to imposed regarding military ops during times of (declared) war, but now its used to keep the government almost entirely non-transparent.

The Snowden revelations show much or most of this secrecy is not done to protect America, but to hide government's violations of the Constitution from its own people. Given this mitigating context, I would consider pardoning Edward Snowden, or to make sure he can use a whistleblowing defense if he is charged under the Espionage Act. That law currently does not permit that defense, but under a Rand presidency, it will be to at least ensure Snowden gets fair treatment."
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I think this would work. It wouldn't necessarily give him the win (i'm not convinced any level of sanity can do that) but I don't think it would totally screw him.
 
JK/SEA said:
Actions speak louder than words. Rand gets elected, he will pardon Snowden.

pandering to the authortarian ass wipes must be done to a small degree if you want to deflect. So what do you think would happen if Rand came out and said on Wolf Blitzer's show he would pardon Snowden?....buh bye Rand. It would be a non stop beating of Rand on all sheeple media.
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That is the hope. But it is getting harder and harder to decipher....

Lucille said:
I know Rand's trying to get the nom from a bunch of warmongers and police statists, but he must know there are no fair trials in this country.
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Agreed.
 
As an Anarcho-Capitalist, I feel sorry for Rand Paul. I think he's trying very hard to have the most tenable positions in a difficult situation. This not only applies to Snowden but on a wide range of issues. It would be difficult to have to express your opinions all the time but have to always hedge your opinion. I appreciate all the hard work he's doing.

All of this makes me think back to 2007. I can only image how excited we would be to hear that a son of Ron Paul was running for President as a Senator. True, many of us are now Anarcho-Capitalists, but it's still exciting.
 
Awful.

Every time I get a little excited about Rand, he opens his mouth and lets shit like this spew out of both sides:

I know most people would want me to say yes, and part of me says yes, and part of me says that we cannot have no rules. So for example, we do have secrets, maybe too many, but we do have secrets that need to be protected. We have operatives who try to risk their lives to defend our country and you know, he didn’t reveal that, but you don’t want people to reveal things like that.
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What the fuck is that double talk horseshit supposed to mean?

You're not gonna please the "hang him high" morons with that kind of talk, and you're not gonna please the "Snowden is a hero" crowd, of which I am one, with that talk.

All you're gonna do is piss off everybody.

Now know WHY he's polling at 3 percent.

Fuck all this...I'm not in the mood today. :mad:
 
Anti Federalist said:
Awful.

Every time I get a little excited about Rand, he opens his mouth and lets shit like this spew out of both sides:



What the fuck is that double talk horseshit supposed to mean?

You're not gonna please the "hang him high" morons with that kind of talk, and you're not gonna please the "Snowden is a hero" crowd, of which I am one, with that talk.

All you're gonna do is piss off everybody.

Now know WHY he's polling at 3 percent.

Fuck all this...I'm not in the mood today. :mad:
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Prepare for an incoming neg. rep from hells_unicorn. Talk like this cannot be abided by on the Rand Paul forums.
 
Anti Federalist said:
Awful.

Every time I get a little excited about Rand, he opens his mouth and lets shit like this spew out of both sides:



What the fuck is that double talk horseshit supposed to mean?

You're not gonna please the "hang him high" morons with that kind of talk, and you're not gonna please the "Snowden is a hero" crowd, of which I am one, with that talk.

All you're gonna do is piss off everybody.

Now know WHY he's polling at 3 percent.

Fuck all this...I'm not in the mood today. :mad:
Click to expand...

With all due respect, that's an absurdly ridiculous comment. Rand isn't at 3% because he isn't a hardcore enough libertarian. Like you've said numerous times, most Americans don't understand liberty and want absolutely nothing to do with it. Rand has to make himself look "reasonable" to have any chance at all to become the GOP nominee. And he's shown some signs of life in the most recent polls. But I'd like to see what percentage of the vote you would have if you tried to run for President as a Republican with your positions.
 
Brett85 said:
With all due respect, that's an absurdly ridiculous comment. Rand isn't at 3% because he isn't a hardcore enough libertarian. Like you've said numerous times, most Americans don't understand liberty and want absolutely nothing to do with it. Rand has to make himself look "reasonable" to have any chance at all to become the GOP nominee. And he's shown some signs of life in the most recent polls. But I'd like to see what percentage of the vote you would have if you tried to run for President as a Republican with your positions.
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People don't want liberty but they also do not want the greasy dissimulation of political talk either.

That's why Trump and Sanders are both winning right now.

It may be crazy talk, but, to the people, it is truthful talk.
 
Brett85 said:
With all due respect, that's an absurdly ridiculous comment. Rand isn't at 3% because he isn't a hardcore enough libertarian. Like you've said numerous times, most Americans don't understand liberty and want absolutely nothing to do with it. Rand has to make himself look "reasonable" to have any chance at all to become the GOP nominee. And he's shown some signs of life in the most recent polls. But I'd like to see what percentage of the vote you would have if you tried to run for President as a Republican with your positions.
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I think there's a point to be made that some positions upset both sides, while they're meant to please both sides. It raises an interesting question about how to present libertarianism to people. It reminds me of a Reason article a few years ago explaining that libertarianism should be accepted by most Americans when it's presented as centrism. Rand's position on this is the centrist position. But I think there's still a difference between centrism and populism.
 
specialkornflake said:
As an Anarcho-Capitalist, I feel sorry for Rand Paul. I think he's trying very hard to have the most tenable positions in a difficult situation. This not only applies to Snowden but on a wide range of issues. It would be difficult to have to express your opinions all the time but have to always hedge your opinion. I appreciate all the hard work he's doing.

All of this makes me think back to 2007. I can only image how excited we would be to hear that a son of Ron Paul was running for President as a Senator. True, many of us are now Anarcho-Capitalists, but it's still exciting.
Click to expand...

Well said. And I hope that is the case. I think the neocons fear him more because he is his father's son and what that implies by being a "Paul", much more than many of his father supporters accepting him for a fear he is too middle road and too much of a sell out. It would sure be nice to know if he is playing the game to get ahead, or is true to his word with the statements he makes. Ron Paul would always be 100% truthful with his positions and beliefs. So is Rand not honest, or not like his dad? If he is a little dishonest now to the general public, but is like his dad inside and will be if elected President, then that is OK by me. But if he is honest like his dad, and what he is stating is 100% truthful and not a "hedge", then that is not as wonderful by me. True, he is the lesser of the evils running, but it is not the victory moment of a Ron Paul presidency. It would be great if there was a way he could alert the Ron Paul supporters without the GOP knowing his true intent, if he is just walking the line to try and appease everyone... but it is virtually impossible, as word would get out. So we have to just hope for the best.

Anti Federalist said:
Awful.

Every time I get a little excited about Rand, he opens his mouth and lets shit like this spew out of both sides:

I know most people would want me to say yes, and part of me says yes, and part of me says that we cannot have no rules. So for example, we do have secrets, maybe too many, but we do have secrets that need to be protected. We have operatives who try to risk their lives to defend our country and you know, he didn’t reveal that, but you don’t want people to reveal things like that.
Click to expand...

What the fuck is that double talk horseshit supposed to mean?

You're not gonna please the "hang him high" morons with that kind of talk, and you're not gonna please the "Snowden is a hero" crowd, of which I am one, with that talk.

All you're gonna do is piss off everybody.

Now know WHY he's polling at 3 percent.

Fuck all this...I'm not in the mood today. :mad:
Click to expand...

Ya, exactly. Also well said. Is he trying to skirt the line here, and failed to appease either side and pissed them all off. Or what? But it is a middle of the road waffable answer. Which way will he waffle? Liberty or GOP?
 
Anti Federalist said:
People don't want liberty but they also do not want the greasy dissimulation of political talk either.

That's why Trump and Sanders are both winning right now.

It may be crazy talk, but, to the people, it is truthful talk.
Click to expand...

He took the same position that Snowden takes. He agrees with Snowden on this. Snowden himself has said that he wouldn't have a problem with serving a short prison sentence. How is that not good enough?
 
I vote that this thread be moved to Hot Topics or somewhere else. In no way is this thread constructive in any way. It's simply the usual suspects creating dissension and making it more likely for neocons like Bush or Rubio to win the nomination.
 
I'd don't know why this is a big deal. Snowden has said he broke the law and should do hail time. How much, should be decided by a jury of his peers.
 
Rand would not pardon James Clapper either. In fact, as POTUS he would have put the DOJ on him for perjury.
 
Brett85 said:
I vote that this thread be moved to Hot Topics or somewhere else. In no way is this thread constructive in any way. It's simply the usual suspects creating dissension and making it more likely for neocons like Bush or Rubio to win the nomination.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry. Let me try again....

Hells, yeas! RAND PAUL, RAND PAUL, RAND PAUL!

Better?
 
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