While some initially championed Edward Snowden, the 21st century mole holed up in Hong Kong, as a martyr, there also appears to be a growing backlash against the former NSA contractor. And as the story slowly unfolds, one key question stands out: is Snowden the heroic whistleblower he claims to be or something more sinister?

During one of his first newspaper interviews, when he spilled national security secrets, Snowden called himself “just another guy who sits there day to day in the office.

The White House announced Thursday that the Obama administration has conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons against his opposition, killing up to 150 people in the last year and crossing what President Barack Obama has called a "red line" that would lead to greater American involvement in the crisis.

It was not immediately clear what the next U.S. move would be but a statement by Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said that the use of chemical weapons by Syria has changed the President’s "calculus.

In the United States, we are supposed to have a government that is limited with its parameters established by our Constitution. This notion that the federal government can monitor everyone’s phone data is a major departure from how Americans have traditionally viewed the role of government.

If this is acceptable practice, as the White House and many in both parties now say it is, then there are literally no constitutional protections that can be guaranteed anymore to citizens.

The Senate passed preliminary but key votes Tuesday in its march to approval of sweeping, bipartisan immigration reform, but final passage remained uncertain as Republicans pushed for tighter border-security provisions and tougher rules for those seeking legal status.

The two procedural votes effectively put the bill formally before the Senate and open for amendments. Both drew more than 80 votes,  reflecting a bipartisan desire to have the debate that now is expected to last three weeks.

However, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was among the Republicans who pointed out that the 60-vote majority his party is demanding for final passage is hardly assured.

The Senate passed preliminary but key votes Tuesday in its march to approval of sweeping, bipartisan immigration reform, but final passage remained uncertain as Republicans pushed for tighter border-security provisions and tougher rules for those seeking legal status.

The two procedural votes effectively put the bill formally before the Senate and open for amendments. Both drew more than 80 votes,  reflecting a bipartisan desire to have the debate that now is expected to last three weeks.

However, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was among the Republicans who pointed out that the 60-vote majority his party is demanding for final passage is hardly assured.