I want to preface my post with with a clear statement that I am not an Obamabot and have serious issues with his administration's lack of transparency.
I am sure that my post will probably generate strong opinion and recommend that debate and open discussion is the remedy going forward.
Edward Snowden is a coward and traitor.
My reasoning is based on his own words.
Snowden is not a gallant whistleblower exposing evil doing by the government. No....... like it or not the program he leaked details to is legal under current US law.
Only the most naive of us thinks that the government does not use every surveillance method available.
You can argue that the FISA courts are a "Sham" as Glenn Greenwald contends.
You can argue that the NSA has exceeded it authority in some areas and you would probably be correct.
However we Americans voted for the Bush administration who wanted to ignore the FISA court and monitor anyone at any time. Where was all the screeching then?
All the surveillance and data gathering happens under the "Patriot act" accompanied by the "Authorization to use military force" AUMF.
Essentially America has on a war footing for over 10 years. Any time we on war footing civil liberties suffer.
However those on the left who clutch their pearls and once again claim Obama is worse than Bush are both inaccurate and at best misguided.
Looking at the Snowden/Greenwald I do not care that they have an agenda...Yes they do but so what? Facts are all that matter....Not some heroic idolized fantasy.
As more facts become known many of the initial claims are debunked. No direct access to corporate servers, No illegal activity.
Just another faux scandal by those making claims that do not stand the test of reality.
I am old enough to have lived through Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers.
Daniel Ellsberg had the courage to be willing to accept jail for his action.
Snowden ran to Hong Kong seems willing to fight extradition tooth and nail. Yeah he is a great American.....NOT
I would be ecstatic if we repealed AUMF and the Patriot act but I do not live in a fantasy world.
Instead I would we make our elected officials accountable and work to elect those who support greater privacy laws.
Hand wringing and claims of "Obama is Terrible" are just nonsense.