New Conspiracy Theorists: Snowden Truthers

Edward Snowden: hero or traitor ... or part of a government conspiracy? As with every major political event these days, there is a group of Americans who see something more sinister behind the NSA whistleblower, and Salon rounds up some theories:

• One of the most prominent is author, activist, and former Al Gore political consultant Naomi Wolf, who wrote a lengthy post on her Facebook page about her "creeping concern that the NSA leaker is not who he purports to be." She thinks he's too organized and level-headed to be a real whistleblower, and his soundbites "are the kinds of messages that the police state would LIKE journalists to take away."

• Radio host and conspiracy theorist Webster Tarpley says that "the most likely hypothesis for Snowden is that he’s a triple agent" working for the CIA to "weaken Obama" and push him into attacking Syria.
• Investigative journalist Jon Rappoport thinks the most likely scenario is that Snowden is just a pawn. "Snowden never saw any of those thousands of documents on an NSA computer. Never happened," he writes at Infowars. "Instead, he was either used or volunteered as a CIA operative to carry the endless turf war between CIA and NSA a new step forward."
• Meanwhile, others believe his interview with the Guardian contains secret messages about UFOs. (You might have to play it backward, of course.)

Click to read more theories at Salon. (More Edward Snowden stories.)