In today’s editorial, the NYT calls for “a plea bargain or some form of clemency” for Edward Snowden writing that “Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight.”
The editorial points out:
The revelations have already prompted two federal judges to accuse the N.S.A. of violating the Constitution (although a third, unfortunately, found the dragnet surveillance to be legal). A panel appointed by President Obama issued a powerful indictment of the agency’s invasions of privacy and called for a major overhaul of its operations.
All of this is entirely because of information provided to journalists by Edward Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who stole a trove of highly classified documents after he became disillusioned with the agency’s voraciousness. Mr. Snowden is now living in Russia, on the run from American charges of espionage and theft, and he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Read the full editorial here.
I’m not sure what this has to do with the Mission, but many Americans consider Snowden is be a traitor and a coward.
Then again, being forced to live in Russia is probably a worse punishment than serving life in a US prison, so maybe there is some rough justice here after all.
And many Americans consider Edward Snowden a hero for cracking the lid on the cookie jar that is Big Brother’s military state. I don’t personally think he’s a hero, but I do think it was just a matter of time before someone with that much knowledge had a crisis of conscious knowing so much was being hidden and exposed some dirty US laundry. He certainly didn’t do it for personal gain. Those that argue “he could have done it differently” have to seriously think through how that would have happened.