regarding the Snownden disclousers --- hero or traitor?
Do we believe in the rule of law? in that the law applies to all people equally? and that government officials are not "above the law? ( see aeden's above post --and -- " Insider Trading Rules That Don't Apply To Congress"
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2 ... -congress/)
Yes, when one is at war the rules can go out the window ( we are in a war ) however when the government takes actions AGAINST "the people" that "the people" feel are inappropriate "the people" may feel rightly or wrongly that "their government" is a greater threat to them, then the "enemy". This leads to a drastic change in attitude toward "their" government and it's laws and institutions. An example from Ancient Rome
" The Roman diplomat Priscus on an embassy to the court of Attila the Hun in 448 encountered a former Greek merchant who had ‘gone native.’ When he asked why a Roman citizen should have embraced Hunnic ways, the man responded:
He considered his new life among the Scythians better than his old life among the Romans, and the reasons he gave were as follows: "After war the Scythians live in inactivity, enjoying what they have got, and not at all, or very little, harassed. The Romans, on the other hand, are in the first place very liable to perish in war, as they have to rest their hopes of safety on others, and are not allowed, on account of their tyrants to use arms. -- {{ early gun control?}} -- And those who use them are injured by the cowardice of their generals, who cannot support the conduct of war. But the condition of the subjects in time of peace is far more grievous than the evils of war, for the exaction of the taxes is very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others, because the laws are practically not valid against all classes. A transgressor who belongs to the wealthy classes is not punished for his injustice, while a poor man, who does not understand business, undergoes the legal penalty, that is, if he does not depart this life before the trial, so long is the course of lawsuits protracted, and so much money is expended on them. The climax of the misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice. For no one will give a court to the injured man unless he pay a sum of money to the judge and the judge's clerks."
http://usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh3 ... taries.htm
And where are we today?