My Pet conspiracy theory is Snowden's is a US operative, and the whole goal of this operation is to get the US populous to accept this whole surveillance state, and to get congress to fully legitimize these surveillance operations...

> get the US populous to accept this whole surveillance state, and to get congress to fully legitimize these surveillance operations...

that does, frankly, seem the most likely outcome of all this, specific orchestrations aside.

no one really has the stomach to roll back the security state, so after a good catharsis, these programs will get legitimized, we'll accept pervasive surveillance as the new normal, and adjust our lives accordingly.

Well you better be very careful about what you say because you don't want to denied entry to the US now do you?

Keep your head down and stay out of trouble, yes.

I am not betting on any side of his actual position, even though I would like it to be someone who does it for his principles. In any case, though, what you say is how this thing will play out. Covert operations control a dissenting minority. Control of a majority requires publicity of the operations so that the majority is then self-controlled.

He would be able to deny this unless he has already been disappeared.