Schneier has an excellent point there. Right now Snowden is in the eyes and minds of a lot of somewhat concerned and maybe even angry people. If he'd encounter and unexpected sudden end to his life, he'd become the modern equivalent to a martyr. From the standpoint of his adversaries this would probably be much less than desirable as it would turn up the heat even more than it is already, documents or no documents. In fact, he'd probably have much less facetime on the news if they'd just let him be in the first place. Almost makes me wonder what else is going on that's not in the news so much right now?
> "Almost makes me wonder what else is going on that's not in the news so much right now?"
Given that the other big story in the media is somehow a slightly-more-than-pedestrian summer heatwave in the US and UK, it seems rather unlikely anyone needs a story as big as Snowden to bury something else.
Actually before Snowden, the other big government story was the fact that the IRS was specifically targeting tea party groups, and there was circumstantial evidence leading to the possibility that Obama was involved. If true, that could be big. Impeach the president big. This country doesn't have tolerance for abuse of executive power to advantage your party in elections.
If anyone needs it, I'll be off in the corner selling tin foil hats. ;-)
Of course, the actual findings of the investigation into that targeting showed that other watchwords like "progressive" meant that "liberal" groups were as or more likely to get targeted for extra scrutiny.
It must be pretty uncomfortable to be in the position where your death may cause trouble that may play out as a big advantage to some entities out there.
