NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Joins Twitter, Immediately Gets a Million Followers
After appearing on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver a few months ago and StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson last week, Snowden joined Twitter Tuesday and has already gained over a million followers while following only one: the NSA.
The Twitter community has helped Snowden’s social media debut, giving him access to the previously dead @Snowden handle and slapping it with the coveted “Verified” tag. Official Ambassador of Earth/Chairman of Time & Space (unofficial title) Neil deGrasse Tyson immediately struck up a Twitter conversation with Snowden, in front of Tyson’s 4 million-plus followers of his own.
Can you hear me now?
And, Ed @Snowden, glad to see the long exile hasn't affected your sense of humor. Staying busy?
.@neiltyson Surveillance never sleeps, and secret projects @FreedomofPress are keeping me busy, but I still find time for cat pictures.
Ed @Snowden, many call you Hero, others Traitor. Whatever else you are, you’re a Geek to me. What do you say to those labels?
.@neiltyson Hero, traitor -- I'm just a citizen with a voice. [1/2]
Later that day, notable Twitter personality Jon Hendren aka @fart went on HLN under as a “Snowden Supporter,” but ended up supporting a different Team Edward. Don’t worry, not the vampire--Edward Scissorhands.
Mr. @fart snuck up on host Yasmin Vossoughian at first. “He’s been isolated for so long,” says Hendren. “We should listen to what he says.” But then he lays it on thick:
“Well, you know, to say that he couldn’t harm somebody with what he did—he could, absolutely, he could. But to cast him out, to make him invalid in society simply because he has scissors for hands—I mean, that’s strange. People didn’t get scared until he started sculpting shrubs into dinosaur shapes and whatnot.”
Ms. Vossoughian, who apparently has scissors for ears, continued her line of questioning undeterred: “Now, Snowden’s living in Russia. Some people say it’s hypocritical that Snowden has asylum in Russia. Russia has a lot of human rights violations.”
And then the devastating @fart attack:
“Casting him out is completely wrong. We’re treating him like an animal, somebody who should be quarantined and put away. Just because he was created on top of a mountain by Vincent Price, and incomplete, with scissors for hands and no heart...Edward Scissorhands is a complete hero to me.” But ever the dull blade, the host continues to either not listen or not understand what is happening.
“But what about the choice he made to live in a country like Russia?” she asks.
“I mean, where else is he going to go? You know? We cast him out. We got scared when he poked a hole in a waterbed with his scissor fingers, and that was unreasonable of us.”
“Well, Jon,” says Vossoughian, “I appreciate you giving us your opinion.”
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