Submitted by: Donald Hank
What drove Edward Snowden to go on-the-record with allegedly-classified information about the scope and breadth of what is quite-clearly illegal spying on US Citizens?
Is it really that hard to figure out? It was his boss, James Clapper, who quite-clearly perjured himself by blatantly lying in an open session of Congress:
Clapper lied. He could have (truthfully) refused to answer, stating that “for national security reasons this question can only be answered in a classified, closed session” or similar — but he did not.
He said no when asked if the NSA intentionally collects any sort of data on millions of Americans.
He lied, as we now know factually, in that the NSA is in fact collecting “metadata” on virtually every single call and other transmission through the US Cell carriers – nearly all of which are by US citizens to and from other US citizens.
That this sort of problem is “focused” on foreign nationals outside the US is an argument that cannot be made with any sort of straight face. The percentage of non-US customers who are not in the US among the various US cell carriers has to be a fraction of one percent since their networks are almost-entirely inside the United States!
Let us not forget that the NSA is an executive department and let us also not forget that the NSA has stated, and the Presidents spokesman has confirmed, that Obama’s “daily briefing” document has repeatedly and prominently featured data gleaned from these programs.
There are those who argue that “there is a proper place for this debate” and that “Snowden had no right to do what he did.”
Wrong.
Snowden clearly violated the law and thus is exposed to the penalties for having done so. However, when you are engaged in an activity that is unconscionable and your superiors are intentionally misleading Congress, which has under the Constitution both the right and the duty to oversee and control your agency, what options do you have remaining?
None.
This nation needs many more men and women of conscience, because it is quite clear that at the top levels of our Executive and Congress we have none.
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Comment of Donald Hank: This is the best analysis I have seen.
ReplyDeleteThere are those who argue that “there is a proper place for this debate” and that “Snowden had no right to do what he did.”
Wrong.
Snowden clearly violated the law and thus is exposed to the penalties for having done so. However, when you are engaged in an activity that is unconscionable and your superiors are intentionally misleading Congress, which has under the Constitution both the right and the duty to oversee and control your agency, what options do you have remaining?
None.
This nation needs many more men and women of conscience, because it is quite clear that at the top levels of our Executive and Congress we have none.
And this Gordian knot situation is why some otherwise rock-ribbed conservatives (like Cliff Kincaid) are condemning Snowden while others--like me--are praising him. They are both partly right, but moral law trumps statutory law in our country and culture. (I imagine this is also why so few responded when I asked for opinions on this. One person agreed with me but another was confused by the complexity of the issue and said he needed to analyze it further.)
This concept of a lower level of law being subordinate to a higher level for the individual goes back to the New Testament, which admonishes Christians to obey the law of the land, but adds a kind of proviso saying that God's law trumps man's law. By analogy, the Constitution does indeed come first and it needs to trump statutory law on all levels, even the level of the lowly civilian citizen. Odd that the US adopted this concept in Nuremberg at the trials of nazis who invoked their official positions as a defense for committing heinous crimes, saying they were under orders to commit crimes against humanity.
What's a nazi official to do?
The US judges said that was not sufficient excuse. But it looks like they only meant that to apply to foreigners. Here in the US, the government seem to be following a rigid scheme of obedience to the law come hell or high water.
We need consistency. What's good for Nazi officials is good for We the People. Bring back Nuremberg in DC and put Snowden on the witness stand for the prosecution! We are prosecuting the wrong people.
This kind of upside down law is tantamount to no law at all and sooner or later, the chickens of lawlessness will come home to roost.
Don Hank