Screen Shot 2013-06-17 at 2.22.44 PMEd Snowden, the most – insert [popular] [wanted] [feared] [hated] [nerdy] [badass] [dead] – man in the world, gave another interview to the Guardian about his decision to come forward with documents which revealed that the NSA is basically reading this while I type. But this time he spoke directly to the people, taking questions from readers and Twitter. I would highly recommend you read the entire transcript, as is the case with all things Snowden, but these snippets stood out:

So far are things going the way you thought they would regarding a public debate?

Initially I was very encouraged. Unfortunately, the mainstream media now seems far more interested in what I said when I was 17 or what my girlfriend looks like rather than, say, the largest program of suspicionless surveillance in human history.

Edward, there is rampant speculation, outpacing facts, that you have or will provide classified US information to the Chinese or other governments in exchange for asylum. Have/will you?

This is a predictable smear that I anticipated before going public, as the US media has a knee-jerk “RED CHINA!” reaction to anything involving HK or the PRC, and is intended to distract from the issue of US government misconduct. Ask yourself: if I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn’t I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now.

I can’t tell if that last thing is the most badass, or douchiest, line in the history of mankind. Somehow, it could be both. But I’ll have to disagree with Snowden that his girlfriend isn’t a relevant topic:

Screen Shot 2013-06-17 at 2.21.45 PMI call this one: “Where in the world is my spook boyfriend?”