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http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/snowden-christmas-message-surveillance/2013/12/25/id/543773
Kinda makes me wish I were doing something a lot more interesting.
An NSA panel has picked "Traitor" as the appropriate label.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/edward-snowden-treason-white-house-panel/2013/12/21/id/543177
Is he a whistleblower? Well, the last time I looked, no federal or state "whistleblower" statute provided protection for taking classified information public.
He could be considered a practitioner of civil disobedience. Daniel Ellsburg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers, is often mentioned in the same breath as Snowden these days. When Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers to the media, he said, "I took this action on my own initiative, and I am prepared for all the consequences." He surrendered to the authorities and was indicted.
I have previously pointed out in this space that Thoreau and MLK said much the same thing as Ellsberg. As a US Citizen, none of us is free to pick and choose the laws we will obey and ignore, according to our consciences... not unless one is prepared to pay the penalty imposed by our legal system for making such a choice.
MLK and Thoreau spent time in jail. But I guess it's a new age. Snowden wants asylum in Brazil in return for revealing more US secrets there.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/17/251931487/edward-snowden-seeks-permanent-political-asylum
Here's his "Open Letter to the People of Brazil":
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/world/2013/12/1386296-an-open-letter-to-the-people-of-brazil.shtml
In it he claims he has paid a price: "my government made me stateless." I guess he means, his passport was yanked. Not quite the same thing as being stateless. But now he does need to find a new den from which he can't, or won't, be extradited. He reminds me of Kim Philby, rather than Daniel Ellsberg, actually.
Philby, the Brit who spied for the Soviets, reportedly died disillusioned in Russia.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/31/spy-kim-philby-disillusioned-communism
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/19/world/last-days-of-kim-philby-his-russian-widow-s-sad-story.html
I suppose I wish about the same for Snowden.
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