The 13 Most Bizarre Things From The Guardian’s Forthcoming Snowden Book

Next week, The Guardian is publishing a book titled The Snowden Files: The Inside Story Of The World’s Most Wanted Man, by Luke Harding. The book tells the story of how The Guardian acquired the Snowden NSA documents and how the publication went about the process of reporting on the story. Over the weekend, Harding published an excerpt of the book online and it was a harrowing and bizarre read.

Here are the 13 most bizarre things from the excerpt.

1) As a commenter on the Ars Technica website, Edward Snowden, who used the online pseudonym “TheTrueHOOHA,” would sometimes accuse commenters who disagreed with him of being “fucking retards.”

2) Edward Snowden didn’t think very highly of Muslims, but he loved him some guns:

…his negative impressions of multiracial Britain (he was shocked by the number of “Muslims” in east London and wrote, “I thought I had gotten off of the plane in the wrong country… it was terrifying”), the joys of gun ownership (“I have a Walther P22. It’s my only gun but I love it to death,” he wrote in 2006).

3) Snowden voted for Paul in 2008 even though he said back in June that he “believed in Obama’s promises.” He also liked John McCain.

At the time, the figure who most closely embodied Snowden’s rightwing views was Ron Paul, the most famous exponent of US libertarianism. Snowden supported Paul’s 2008 bid for the US presidency. He was also impressed with the Republican candidate John McCain.

4) Snowden thought Obama was coming for his guns.

Once Obama became president, Snowden came to dislike him intensely. He criticised the White House’s attempts to ban assault weapons.

For the record, the White House didn’t attempt to ban any assault weapons.

5) Snowden’s views on affirmative action?… [CONTINUE READING HERE]

By: Bob Cesca

Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go