Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Insider information

There are those who say that Edward Snowden is a traitor.

Perhaps he is.

I think he is not. You may disagree with me. I think he did what he could to right a wrong by "blowing the whistle".

There are those who say he should have taken a different path to try and stop these practices.

Perhaps he should have. But what path:

Others who tried to inform and stop these practices have been hounded and charged with espionage. Even when going to the Inspector General or the Justice departement, they were ignored. And in at least one instance, the informant wad prosecuted.

For once, the Fourth Estate did it's job. Sadly, it was not a news organization in the US that did it...that outed this program. That protected the citizens of the US by informing them of what was already suspected by many of us.

These men are Snowden's peers. And I will take their judgement of him over that of a bureaucrat any day.

5 comments:

og said...

I'm with you right up to the point where he starts flapping his jaws to the Chinese. THAT is what makes him a traitor.

B said...

True.

But I doubt he is telling them anything that they already don't know.

Were I him, I'd be talking to everybody. Just so my government couldn't kill me.

Old NFO said...

I would point you to this blog...

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/

They lay it out pretty well.

Divemedic said...

A traitor, by definition, is a person who commits treason. Treason is the only crime that is defined in the COTUS.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

So China is our enemy? So that means that anyone who does business with China is committing treason?

No. It is not treason. We are not at war with China, and they are a business partner, not an enemy.

og said...

Divemedic: buying cheap flashlights and trading in state secrets are sorta different.