Snowden –Hero or Traitor?

I have been watching the controversy about Edward Snowden in the news. To some he is nothing but a traitor and should spend the rest of his life in jail for compromising our National Security and causing such an uproar. To others he is a whistler blower and a hero who should be allowed to return the the United States and given a Presidential Pardon. 

I don’t know all the facts and I haven’t got a clue what was in his mind –but there are a couple of facts that we do know. And those facts make it hard for me to see him as some sort of modern hero. 

First of all, he chose to steal sensitive National Security Information and put it out in public as a way of calling attention to what NSA was doing. Now, maybe he truly believed we needed to know what was going on and how much of our private information was being collected. I can understand that. And I can see why he felt the “procedures for whistle blowing” would not work –I mean, look what happened to the guys that blew the whistle on Fast and Furious and on the IRS scandal. We don’t exactly do a good job protecting those people, do we? 

But what he did was not the answer. He stole all that data and left the country to splash it all over the internet.

And where did he go? To China. China for Christ sake!

And when the Chinese decided he was too hot for them a Russian Secret Service Agent arranged for him to run to the welcoming arms of Vladimir Putin. 

Was that he's idea of a patriotic act? Is that what he thought would help the American people? Giving all those secrets to the Russians and the Chinese? Really? 

I’m sorry. I don’t buy it, not for a second. 

As for what should happen to him, well, as far as I am concerned a Presidential Pardon is out of the question. If he is so devoted to “doing the right thing”, he should come back and take responsibility for his actions and go through the Justice System. 

Personally, I think part of his sentence should include being put in the stocks in front of the Lincoln Memorial and letting our wounded veterans throw rotten tomatoes at him for a few days. And then he should be handcuffed to a desk and made to type “Giving Communists our National Secrets does not protect the American People” a couple of hundred thousand times. 

Then they can give him a frontal lobotomy (so he can’t do any more damage) and send him back to Vladimir. 

Here endith my rant –and yes, I feel better now. 

Today’s Reflection: 

The American in me says people have a right to be bigots. The humanitarian in me says to reach in, tie their vocal cords in a knot, and save people from having to listen to them. 

Live Long and Prosper….