Final Word: No Fourth of July cookout for Edward Snowden
Jul 3, 2013, 8:50 PM | Updated: 9:15 pm
As we head into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, I find it oddly fitting that NSA leaker Edward Snowden has no country to go to.
He’s still stuck in the Moscow airport, looking for someplace that will take him. Russia, Hong Kong and even Ecuador have said no.
Snowden’s father Lonnie has written a letter to his son comparing him to a modern-day Paul Revere. The letter said the NSA leaks have helped to “awaken” Congressional oversight of U.S. intelligence from a “deep slumber.”
Paul Revere? Perhaps not the best comparison.
Except apparently, Congress knew of the NSA programs.
Look, I get that Edward Snowden’s dad will do anything he can to support his son in what seems like an increasingly unwinnable game of chess against the U.S.
Of COURSE you are going to try to liken your son to a heroic American like a Paul Revere. But Snowden didn’t get on his horse and risk his life by riding through the night to warn his fellow Americans that the enemy was coming. Our enemies right now are all around us. Since 9/11, the focus has been on groups like al-Qaida, but in reality, many of the deadly attacks we’ve seen in recent years have been from homegrown enemies.
I don’t think the NSA is doing most Americans any harm by the so-called spying that is going on. Do I wish that, given that they ARE spying, to an extent, that domestic acts of terror like the Boston Marathon Bombings?
You bet.
Edward Snowden, you are no Paul Revere.
Enjoy your Fourth of July weekend in Moscow.
