If Congress is going to investigate baseball players about whether or not they told the truth, how can we justify giving the most powerful intelligence official, [James] Clapper, a pass? This is how J. Edgar Hoover ended up in charge of the FBI forever.
Edward SnowdenI don't think political reform is likely to succeed. [Senators Tom] Udall and [Ron] Wyden, on the intelligence committee, have been sounding the alarm, but they are a minority.
Edward SnowdenWhen you say, โI have nothing to hide,โ youโre saying, โI donโt care about this right.โ Youโre saying, โI donโt have this right, because Iโve got to the point where I have to justify it.โ The way rights work is, the government has to justify its intrusion into your rights.
Edward SnowdenCyber Command is supposed to be defending our critical infrastructure at home, but they are spending so much time looking at how to attack networks, how to break systems, and how to turn things off. I don't think it adds up as representing a defensive team.
Edward SnowdenThe authoritarian one believed that an individual's rights were basically provided by governments and were determined by states. The other society - ours - tended to believe that a large portion of our rights were inherent and couldn't be abrogated by governments, even if this seemed necessary.
Edward Snowden