We can't simply scare people into giving up their rights, on the basis, oh, this protects us from terrorism.
Edward SnowdenI had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.
Edward Snowden[Barton ] Gellman printed a great anecdote: he showed two Google engineers a slide that showed how the NSA was doing this, and the engineers "exploded in profanity."
Edward SnowdenPeople at civil-liberties organizations say it's a sea change, and that it's very clear judges have begun to question more critically assertions made by the executive. Even though it seems so obvious now, it is extraordinary in the context of the last decade, because courts had simply said they were not the best branch to adjudicate these claims - which is completely wrong, because they are the only nonpolitical branch. They are the branch that is specifically charged with deciding issues that cannot be impartially decided by politicians.
Edward Snowden