[cbaker]

Here is the US, we're allowed to criticize the government. If you're unhappy with that, maybe you'd like to move to North Korea, China, or any of those other countries where people like you are allowed to shut down critical thinking.

[fleitz]

Didn't Snowden have to flee to China and then Russia so he could criticize his government with out fear of summary execution?

[CurtMonash]

I'm a huge fan of what Snowden did, but that's not a fair summary at all.

He fled out of fear of long-term incarceration, for actions that ordinarily would indeed deserve such harsh sentences.

[lawnchair_larry]

No

[joyeuse6701]

Criticism of government has it's limits. Snowden is questionable because what he said was not public knowledge and had crippling negative effects towards security of the state, but say, expressing your criticism of government by blowing up a federal building...

[vijucat]

> Here is the US, we're allowed to criticize the government.

Mostly true, I suppose, but I remember this : "TSA loudspeakers threaten travelers with arrest for making jokes" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkWPMeLSk6M

[waps]

I think that falls under the "yelling fire in a crowded theatre" rule [1].

Yes, the US has freedom of expression, and you can claim whatever you want about the government (you can even lie). But if you yell 'fire' in a theatre with 500 people and 1 small exit, or 'allahu akbar' in a TSA line, you deserve to get sued and punished for that. That is not legally considered to be freedom of expression.

Personally I don't find that very controversial. If you lie to get someone else's kid into your car, that's not freedom of expression either. Lying to private security during an emergency is not freedom of expression either. Reporting a bomb threat because you have a math quiz is not freedom of expressoin. If you commit fraud on a contract, that's not freedom of expression either, whether or not "it was a joke".

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouting_fire_in_a_crowded_thea...