America's Edward Snowden problem

[bemildred]

Nice summary of what is publicly known, as I understand it, plus lots of speculation.

The main problem for Edward Snowden is that he ran away. That's not Edward Snowden's problem; it's America's problem. The idea that Edward Snowden decided to flee overseas in order to deliver his revelations of massive US government surveillance is awkward for the United States politically, and difficult for a lot of Americans on the emotional level.

Some complain that Snowden did not do what might be characterized as "the full Ellsberg", bravely and patriotically staying in the United States to face the legal music as did Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers, did in 1971. Tim Weiner, a former national security reporter for the New York Times, made the case in a Bloomberg op-ed:

Snowden should have the courage to come home, to fight in court, under the law. He has damaged his cause by fleeing to China, then to Russia. Why seek refuge in bastions of repression? Why contemplate asylum in Ecuador, a country with one of the worst records on free speech and free press in the Western Hemisphere? Why does he act like a spy on the run from a country he betrayed?

He does his cause no good by hiding. If he stood trial, as Daniel Ellsberg did after leaking the Pentagon Papers, he could try to justify his disclosure of national-security secrets. He conceivably might even win, if only a moral victory. [1]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-280613.html

[WovenGems]

1. Nope

We can ignore him.

[leveymg]

2. He's behaving like a rational insurgent, not like a saint. Survival is the goal, not self-sacrifice

Last edited Fri Jun 28, 2013, 10:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Clearly, those who expect Snowden to act like MLK or Gandhi don't understand what he did. It's naive and disingenuous to suggest that he did this simply to make some sort of statement and should turn himself in to the authorities and face trial and imprisonment like a good martyr. This was not so much an act of civil disobedience as of insurgency.

[think]

3. K&R. Great READ. Awseome Ellsberg quote:

Ellsberg:

"The NDAA, National Defense Authorization Act, permits military custody indefinitely of an American citizen who's a civilian, and Snowden could very well find himself at Quantico, naked perhaps like Bradley was for a while, and be really incommunicado, as Bradley has been for three years with the single exception of being allowed to make a statement when he pled guilty to 10 charges. And that's the only chance he had to speak out. So I think Snowden has learned from that example."

Thank you for posting!

:hi!

[leveymg]

5. Escalation and overreaction. It's what national security states do, if the people allow it.

[Thinkingabout]

4. Edward Snowden is a scumbag thief, he has been charged with espionage and does not

Deserve to return to the USA on any terms, best sentence he could ever have and it will not cost the US any money for a trial, prison time or execution. We had a great nation before Edward Snowden and will still have a great nation.

[think]

6. Yawn....