Was Edward Snowden Justified?

Edward Snowden

Two teams faced off on the motion "Snowden was justified" in his release of highly classified national security documents. The team that sways the most people by the end of the debate is declared the winner.

Andrew C. McCarthy and R. James Woolsey (right)

AGAINST THE MOTION

Andrew C. McCarthy, a contributing editor at National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, is a former top federal prosecutor. A former chief assistant U.S. attorney, he is best known for leading the prosecution against Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 others for waging a terrorist war against the U.S., including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks.

Ambassador R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, chairs the board of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and is a venture partner with Lux Capital Management. Previously, he served in the U.S. government on five different occasions, where he held presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations.

Ben Wizner (left) and Daniel Ellsberg

FOR THE MOTION

Daniel Ellsberg is a former U.S. military analyst who, in 1971, leaked the Pentagon Papers, which revealed how the U.S. public had been misled about the Vietnam War. After serving in the Marine Corps, he became in 1959 a strategic analyst at the RAND Corporation and consultant to the White House and Defense Department, which he joined before transferring to the State Department to serve in Saigon. Ellsberg's trial on 12 felony counts was dismissed on grounds of governmental misconduct against him.

Ben Wizner, legal adviser to Edward Snowden, directs the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, which is dedicated to protecting and expanding the freedoms of expression, association, and inquiry.  He has litigated numerous cases involving post-9/11 civil liberties abuses, including challenges to airport security policies, government watch lists, extraordinary rendition and torture.
Source: intelligence2 Debate: Was Edward Snowden Justified?

The Birth Of The Fed

This story includes a 70-year-old man with a bad head cold and a bunch of mistresses, a nation that's deeply ambivalent about a central bank, and a secret meeting at an island with a sketchy name.

You will hear from Liaquat Ahamed, author of Lords of Finance, and Gary Richardson, Federal Reserve System historian and professor at UC Irvine.
Source: planet money: Episode 505: A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed

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Music includes The Great American Foreclosure Song, David Rovics - Song For The Mavi Marmara, Excerpt from the movie The Great Dictator, Nelson Mandela, taacc, David Rovics - Shut Them Down, William Clinton 6-6-1994, Excerpt from the movie Clueless, Earth Mama - We Are One, Roger McGuinn - Its alright ma, Prine - Flag Decal Heaven, Sheryl Crow - God Bless This Mess, Mariachi Tamazula - Alma Llanera, Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass - South of the Border