For those for you who just returned from your three month vacation on Mars, Edward Snowden is the ex-CIA worker cum NSA contractor who filched several laptops worth of classified documents. Since then we have had a wild party of embarrassing newspaper leaks, Snowden on the run, being helped by WikiLeaks and their cornered head Jullian Assange, and the young man ending up in a no man's land at an airport in Moscow. Originally a whole raft of countries, headed by Russia and Ecuador, trumpeted Snowden and the embarrassment he has caused the US government, but as the initial ha ha has given way Snowden found himself with no visa, and no country seems to want him, except of course the United States which is waiting with a pair of handcuffs.
And I have been, well not ambivalent, but torn on the issue. On the one hand I am an ex-military guy. I take things like being sworn to secrets seriously. Especially since there are news reports from Hong Kong that quoted young Snowden as having applied to his secret job with the express purpose of stealing secrets. That makes my blood burn. On the other hand, I am also not at all happy with the recent policies of the Bush and Obama administrations. Their records on civil rights and privacy have also made my blood to boil.
So with my blood boiling and burning I kept my mouth shut, because to condemn one might seem like condoning the other. I was in no mood to condone anything. Until now. I still do not really condone, but I have some heartfelt condemnation to ladle out.
This afternoon I ran across a news item on CNBC.com. You can see the entire news report HERE.
The key items were two quotes. These are reportedly made by Snowden and presented by representatives of WikiLeaks:
First of all, the report says that Snowden criticises the US Government for pressuring other governments to deny his asylum petitions.
Quote #1
"This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me,"Quote #2
"Although I am convicted of nothing, it [U.S. government] has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody, a right to asylum."My first thought is this kid needs to go back to high school.
Deception from a world leader??? Really? It looks to be pretty plain here. The US is angry and wants Snowden back. Can anyone anywhere in the world think that the US is deceiving people and really does not want Snowden back???
The extralegal penalty of exile - Eh - you went into exile, dear Edward. If I went merely by your actions I would have had to say you were wanted for raping and killing a girl or you stole state secrets. Oh! It was state secrets. Well, either way it was your choice to go. You cannot in any way blame the US Government for your own ineptitude. They do enough stupid things without you blaming them for what you did.
These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me, Well, duh.
Let me tell you who my heroes are: George Washington, John Adams, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi. What did they have in common? They were willing to sacrifice themselves for a cause they believed in.
George Washington and John Adams joined the Colonials in their war against Britain knowing full well that if they were caught or unsuccessful that they would be shot, maybe hanged and if King Geaorge was really feeling put upon they might have been drawn and quartered. They did it anyway, believing it was the right thing to do.
Martin Luther King Jr was thrown in jail several times for his activities in fighting against segregation and discrimination. By the way I think everybody in this wretched fiasco should be required to sit in a corner and be required to read twice over King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Mandela and Gandhi were both thrown in jail and repeatedly beaten for their fight for justice. They did it anyway, accepting their punishment as a cost of change.
Why do I have a slow burn against Assange and Snowden? Because they have a hypocritical, bankrupt view of struggle for freedom. They think the only thing that should be required.is that they unilaterally decide they are innocent of all crimes. It was a policy that first came from a guy by the name of Lenin: "The ends justify the means." It is the same crime they charge against Obama and the US government. It is a bankrupt idea, morally empty. The end can never the the justification of the means.That way leads to the harsh mockery of the Iranian courts. I wonder what Snowden would think his fate would be if he had done this as an Iranian citizen against the Iranian govenrment? The end truly justifies the means there. Is that the society Snowden wants?
Washington, Adams, King, Mandela and Gandhi broke the unjust laws, true, but then they stood and were willing to take the punishment. They showed their moral courage, sure in their expectations that history would prove them right.What do you have if there is no punishment for committing crimes? What if the person who commits the crime simply needs to say they committed their crime for freedom or liberty and so all of society must stop and not give them any punishment? If that is all a person needs to do then freedom and liberty and laws and justice are nothing but a farce.
Yes the laws are there. Yes the US government is trying to capture Snowden. To tell you the truth they should. Laws should be followed, unless they are unrighteous then they should be changed. They must not become a mockery if anyone can ignore the law simply on a whim. There are lots of societies in this world where there are people who do not have to follow the laws of their own country. Of course, these countries are blindingly corrupt and shot through with inequalities and economic, political and social discrimination. Why should Snowden be allowed to break the law, simply because he assures us that he is doing it merely as a patriotic action? That we should take his word that all the scheming and lying he did to get into that classified position was for freedom?
If Snowden and Assange really are patriots and heroes then things will change and history will show them to be heroes. But not everybody can be a hero. You have to sacrifice to be a hero. Snowden and Assange want to be heroes without sacrifice. And that is why the two of them are laughable, pale caricatures of heroes like Mandela, King, Gandhi, Washington and Adams.
.
Unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person - Duh. The passport is not a right, it is something that is granted by a government. In fact, a passport is not owned by the individual. By international law and treaty a passport is owned and controlled by the government who issued it. In my passport, the one I have open in front of me, IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR PASSPORT. it reads the following
US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY this passport is the property of the United States (Title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 51.9). It must be surrendered upon demand made by an authorized individual of the United States Government.Of course it was unilaterally taken. Snowden violated an oath, stole documents and property, committed multiple felonies, knew he was committing multiple felonies ( the briefings you get about it when you get such a clearance are extremely detailed). Of course the United States government unilaterally revoked the passport and his security clearance too. It is not something the government would simply say:
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL : Sorry, we cannot let you travel, so can we have our passport back?
SNOWDEN : No. I am going to leave and find a nice warm beach somewhere..
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL : Oh, come on! Be a nice guy. Please let me have your passport puhlease?
Sorry, I can't see that happening.And this is such an empty, whining, clueless little fart. It's as bad as some of the worst ridiculousness that North Korea was blathering a few months ago. Please, just shut up.
And finally:
Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody, a right to asylum. Sorry, you just failed your social studies exam. There is no right to asylum. Asylum is a status GRANTED by a government. Every year thousands of people apply to the United States apply for asylum. Some receive it, most do not. It is the same way all over this world and always has been.
And frankly it is this last part which just turned my stomach and left me disgusted with the Snowden/Assange/WikiLeaks side. Theirs is a morally empty, juvenile arrogance in which they are hoping that by doing the most screaming and pointing of fingers people will be blind to the unwholesome ridiculousness of their empty arguments. They seek to be heroes without sacrifice. They seek the anarchy of destruction without a vision of a better world. They know they are smarter than everybody else and as long as they keep talking then no one will see that they have done nothing admirable.Shut up, shut up, please, just shut up.
The Bush and Obama governments still make my blood boil.
But Snowden has me steaming.
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