Back in the year 2013, Edward Joseph Snowden, a United States government contractor, leaked classified information to a group of journalists. The story is much, much longer than that, of course, but that's the brass tacks.
Now I'm not Edward Snowden, but I think that he thought, deep, deep down, that what he was doing was noble and that the 1st Amendment would protect him in the long run. He was very, very wrong.
Why are we stripping the Snowden Case down to its barest fundamentals?
Because the nuts and bolts of the case are irrelevant.
In America, the Federal Government was illegally monitoring its own citizens. When Edward Snowden went to the press, the government said "you disclosed our illegal secrets in an illegal fashion."
They figuratively shot the messenger instead of admitting their own guilt.
Now you're screaming that Snowden committed ESPIONAGE. Technically he didn't. Espionage involves selling secrets to foreign combatants or for monetary gain. The government's argument was that the revealed secrets would EVENTUALLY end up in the hands of foreign governments. Edward Snowden was simply a citizen-journalist without the protections of a large corporation like the San Francisco Chronicle or the New York Times.
Once Snowden went on the run, I believe his American lawyers anticipated a groundswell of support. That didn't happen either. I supported Snowden right up until the invasion of Ukraine. When Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, Snowden's Social Media account fell silent for a 100 days.
When he turned his cell phone back on, he went right back to criticizing the United States, despite ample time and a clear platform to hold Vladimir Putin's feet to the fire. Notice he continues to rail against America on an American Social Media platform. I criticized Snowden myself on Beacon of Speech, citing the softening of his steel backbone. But, in his defense, it is hard to be on the run from 2 of the world's largest superpowers at the same time.
So yesterday, when Snowden was chirping about Joe Biden's mental decline, part of me just wanted him to go away. There's lots of problems in Russia he could be exposing.
This is just a reminder, Edward Snowden didn't win a Pulitzer Prize, the Guardian (US) and the Washington Post won for their coverage of Edward Snowden and the secret surveillance by the National Security Agency.
Was anyone sent to jail from the NSA? Nope.
Was Edward Snowden sent to jail? The U.S. Government is still trying its darnedest.
Were any reporters from the Washington Post or the Guardian sent to jail? Nope.
Do you see the problem there? It's not if a law was broken, but who broke the law.
And as I type away, I am reminded that my Father-in-Law displays an upside-down flag to protest Donald Trump's Felony Conviction. I can't help but think that Bill Clinton did the same exact thing. Does Bill Clinton's settlement with Paula Jones ring a bell to you? According to Clinton's greasy lawyer, "a settlement is not the same as a hush money payment."
In the year 1998, Bill Clinton was too big to be brought down by a sex scandal.
Yet, in the year 2024, a sex scandal was too important to be ignored. And again, it wasn't the sex scandal that got Trump into trouble, but the manner in which he covered up the sex scandal.
Did society change, or did the politics change?
Or did the powers that be feel different about the person committing the sex scandal.
In 2013, Edward Snowden was prosecuted (in America) because the party in power didn't like his politics. It exposed their overreaching tentacles.
In 2024, Edward Snowden is afraid to speak against the country he lives in (Russia) because he fears further prosecution.
See how similar those two countries are? Edward Snowden inadvertently showed the similarities between the two unlike nations in that Biden tweet. How do I figure? Swap out Snowden's name for a generic name.
Average American was persecuted by the American Government for speaking out.
Average Russian is afraid to be persecuted by the Russian Government for speaking out.
Apparently speaking out against the state's enemies in fine.
If Snowden really thought, in 2013, that he would be living in Russia in 2024, do you think he would have stayed silent?
Only he can answer that.
From Beacon of Speech.... in 2016.
Just a reminder, Joe Biden was the Vice President in 2013.