'Netroots Nation' Loudly Boos Nancy Pelosi for Criticizing Whistleblower Snowden

Common Dreams

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) drew loud and vocal backlash Saturday for her comments on National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Speaking at 'Netroots Nation', a national gathering of progressive Democratic activists and bloggers, Pelosi claimed it was unfair to label this President George W. Bush's "fourth term."

As she spoke about the need to "balance" privacy and security, Marc Perkel, a 57-year-old California blogger who's called for Obama's impeachment over the NSA revelations yelled out: "It's not a balance! It's not constitutional! No secret laws!" Perkel continued to decry "secret courts," and staffers began to escort him from the room.

As security guards were dragging Perkel away. "Leave him alone!" shouted others in the audience. "No secret courts!" yelled Perkel as he moved out of the room. "No secret laws!"

Pelosi continued: "Snowden, you may disagree with me, but he did violate the law in terms of releasing those documents. The fact is, we have to have a balance between security and privacy."

Loud boos then erupted throughout the room. "It's a bad law!" yelled one Netroots attendee. "You suck!" "Leave him alone!" and "That's what a police state looks like right there!" yelled others.

The Los Angeles Timesreports:

SAN JOSE -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was heckled and booed by liberal activists Saturday when she said that Edward Snowden broke the law when he revealed classified information about secret surveillance programs.

Another round of disapproval came when the former House speaker said Americans' rights to privacy must be balanced with the nation's security needs.

Snowden "did violate the law in terms of releasing those documents," she said during a luncheon Q-and-A on the closing day of Netroots Nation, an annual gathering of thousands of liberal activists and bloggers.

The crowd erupted in boos.

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