I don’t know yet what I think of this character, but in a chat room hosted by The Guardian Edward Snowden makes some interesting points (uh, thought we couldn’t find him):

“Unfortunately, the mainstream media now seems far more interested in what I said when I was 17 or what my girlfriend looks like rather than, say, the largest program of suspicionless surveillance in human history.”

“I did not reveal any US operations against legitimate military targets. I pointed out where the NSA has hacked civilian infrastructure such as universities, hospitals, and private businesses because it is dangerous. These nakedly, aggressively criminal acts are wrong no matter the target.”

“Obama’s campaign promises and election gave me faith that he would lead us toward fixing the problems he outlined in his quest for votes. Many Americans felt similarly. Unfortunately, shortly after assuming power, he closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge.”

“Journalists should ask a specific question: since these programs began operation shortly after September 11th, how many terrorist attacks were prevented SOLELY by information derived from this suspicionless surveillance that could not be gained via any other source? Then ask how many individual communications were ingested to acheive that.”

“I have had no contact with the Chinese government. Just like with the Guardian and the Washington Post, I only work with journalists.”

Nice to see, hope he lasts (easier to pronounce at least — hah-SAHN roh-hah-NEE).

(Reuters) – Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani won Iran’s presidential election on Saturday, the interior ministry said, scoring a surprising landslide victory over conservative hardliners without the need for a second round run-off. … Rohani’s resounding election mandate could provide latitude for a diplomatic thaw with the West and more social freedoms at home after eight years of belligerence and repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was legally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

(Christian Science Monitor) – The surge for Rohani began just 72 hours before the vote – and has now shocked the conservative establishment. There is shock, too, for all those Iranians who planned to boycott the election because they considered their votes “useless” in a rigged system, yet voted anyway.

(The Economist) – A 64-year-old clergyman who was educated partly in Glasgow, Rhouhani was Iran’s leading negotiator on nuclear affairs when the reform-inclined Muhammad Khatami served as president from 1997-2005. In the television debates featuring the candidates in the poll’s run-up, he has criticised Mr Ahmadinejad for fiscal ineptitude and has bemoaned the country’s stifling “security atmosphere”.

Aljazeera: “Moderate Hassan Rouhani secures more than 50 percent of votes, 12 million more than closest rival.”

Family members of Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims are in Washington this week to meet with lawmakers to help revive the defeated Manchin-Toomey legislation that would expand background checks.

“The more time that goes by, in some respects, the stronger we’re getting, and the more comfortable in our voices and knowing what needs to be done,” said Nicole Hockley, whose son, Dylan, was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. “It just strengthens our resolve to continue this.”

“I need help in getting out to gun regions, such as West Virginia, and all over this country, that actually this gun bill is good for them and asking them to step to the plate and make sure that the wrong people don’t get guns,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said. “There’s going to be an election in 2014. That’s the time when you’ve exhausted every other avenue, of getting the message out and doing the right thing. Then do what you’ve got to do then. That’s when the real price is going to be paid.”

Why care if Democrats lose the Senate if Michael Bloomberg guts Democratic wimps against gun control? Now he’s asking donors to dump their asses. Good. A Democratic Senate that acts like Republicans is not worth having. So be it. Spare me, Democratic Party hacks, your pathetic arguments that protecting control of the Senate is all that matters. Why? So you get better offices to serve the same old lobbyists the Republicans serve? Forget it. Get with it or get ready to disappear. There’s a third way out there somewhere ready to change everything.

Washington Post: Six months after the Newtown school shooting, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is stepping up his gun control campaign by asking donors not to support Democratic senators who opposed a bill to expand background checks on gun buyers, while a mayors’ group he co-founded is embarking on a national bus tour to rally for efforts to curb gun violence.