Putin - "Nyet" to Snowden Extradition

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/25/russian-official-balks-at-us-extradition-demand-for-snowden/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/25/putin-confirms-snowden-is-at-moscow-airport-and-he-wont-be-extradited/

"U.S. officials on Tuesday challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Moscow's hands are tied when it comes to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, saying there is a "clear legal basis" to turn him over.

Putin confirmed earlier Tuesday that Snowden is at the Moscow airport. He said, though, that not only is Snowden in the transit zone, but since Snowden has not committed a crime in Russia, the government will not extradite him back -- as requested -- to the United States......"

The Chinese made their move in a classic East Asian fashion, stalling for time as they made vague statements about clarifications on the minutia of the US request for Snowden's detention and eventual extradition.

The Russians, being of a culture that prefers straightforward or blunt answers, did not bother to engage in  courtly Diplospeak - Putin basically said 'Yea, we're not doing that'.

While I freely admit that we don't, nor may we ever, know for certain why Edward Snowden performed his intel leak, it is looking worse for the US.

I am still of the impression that he did what he believed had to be done.

Snowden was accused by many of having been in bed with the Chinese, but he was not the recipient of asylum in that nation, so the claim appears to be weak. He also has not been whisked away to a nation in which asylum has been guaranteed, which makes the accusations look like little more than sour grapes on the part of the Obama administration and the State Department.

What we have now is a US President and his State Department having to face what History will tell our descendants was in fact inevitable - a buffoon and his minions being exposed for the incompetents that they are. 

In a modern twist of Humpty-Dumpty, all the teleprompter speeches of the President and all the foot-stomping of John Kerry will not change the mind of Vladimir Putin.

One comment on the second link had a good point; a "Choom Gang" slacker that was carried throughout his college career and was the prime example of a candidate that was "made" by the media* (The latter was mine), is not in the same league as a man who rose through the ranks of the old KGB and is able to assert control over the rough and sometimes-tumultuous political world of Russia.

Barry is outclassed, plain and simple.

-From a previous post:
*http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2012/03/prophet-named-trevor-loudon.html
*While watching the 2004 election results, the network that I had on (I can't recall which one) of course moved back and forth from the Bush/Kerry contest to those for Senators and Representatives across the nation. At one point, it was emblazoned on the TV screen that OBAMA wins the Illinois Senate race. That is how the name actually looked on the screen while other winners had much smaller print. The name was repeatedly thrown at us in the same fashion several times and was of course eagerly discussed. I could not help but see that something was going on. With all sorts of seats in the Capitol Building up for grabs, this one single race was somehow a big deal. I could not recall any appreciable news stories concerning the campaign for that particular seat. It did not make any sense unless the individual involved was somehow supposed to be larger than life. His name was patently being treated as if it had been a household word for years. The use of the name was clearly intended to convey a sense of power, electricity, and as a force in and of itself. I was reminded of the personality cults of Mao, Stalin, Lenin, and others. The face, the name, and the created imagery were all there.

I thought to myself that this was the guy that the Democrats wanted for 2012. I was wrong - in 2008, he was given a Roman Triumph of a lift by the media and others simply for being a guy that was just so great that things could not but improve.