Snowden Deserves An Immediate Presidential Pardon

[Purveyor]

History will probably be kinder to the American than to his pursuers, writes Stephen Walt

July 8, 2013 6:20 pm

In his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama called upon “We, the People” to preserve America’s ideals of individual freedom and equality. When Edward Snowden disclosed the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programmes, he was rising to this challenge. Like the nation’s “founding fathers”, he was also defying the usurpations of an increasingly intrusive government. Mr Obama should therefore call off the campaign to apprehend him and offer Mr Snowden a pardon instead.

Mr Snowden stands accused of stealing government property and unauthorised dissemination of classified information. But he did not pass valuable secrets to a foreign government or sell them for personal gain – as convicted spies such as Aldrich Ames or Jonathan Pollard did. On the contrary, he gave up a well-paid job and put his own freedom in jeopardy for a principle.

Mr Snowden’s motives were laudable: he believed fellow citizens should know their government was conducting a secret surveillance programme enormous in scope, poorly supervised and possibly unconstitutional. He was right.

Thanks to Mr Snowden, we now know that officials and private contractors have been collecting vast amounts of information about ordinary Americans and conducting unprecedented levels of spying on US allies. We know key officials lied on Capitol Hill about what the NSA was doing, casting doubt on the quality of Congressional oversight. By going public, Mr Snowden reminded us that secret programmes undertaken in the name of national security are extremely difficult to control.

MORE...

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0ccf2d14-e7c1-11e2-babb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2YU3RyBav

[MineralMan]

1. That is not in the cards for Snowden.

Sorry. It's not going to happen.

[Purveyor]

2. Of course it isn't. That would take real leadership and a stand on principle. eom

[MineralMan]

3. Well, characterize it as you please.

It still will not happen.

[Whisp]

4. The President is a real leader and he does stand on principle.

so there.

It's beyong ridiculous and a few other unmentionalble words to think Obama/DoJ should let this little creep go free.

Here's hoping GG can be nabbed with something too - his dishonest ass is involved in this in some illegal way too.

[Cleita]

6. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon a President who committed far worse felonies than

this guy did.

[Whisp]

9. Yes, and Clinton pardoned Marc Rich

as a last minute cowardly act.
Unfortunately this seems to be a regular thing with outgoing Presidents.

Pardoning Snowden would be the a-okay for others to do like him to get their 15 minutes of fame and book proceeds.

[xiamiam]

15. he hasnt even addressed the bolivian presidents plane fiasco yet..like its going to disappear..nt

[Cleita]

5. President would look like a wussy to his critics if he did, more so than he already does.

So he will be strongly advised against even thinking about it. However, there is precedent and that is in Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, a heinous criminal, IMHO. I don't believe Snowden's transgression is any where close to Nixon's.

[quinnox]

7. I can understand why Obama cannot do this thing, but

I think if we can get a true liberal president in there as a successor, then he can pardon Snowden. And I would go even further, and award him the presidential medal of freedom. That said, I realize that is unlikely.

[Waiting For Everyman]

8. Yes, he does.

The fact that he isn't getting one imo answers the question: did POTUS know about this stuff? If POTUS didn't know this before, it would be handled very differently right now. It is absolutely shameful.

[Laelth]

10. Agreed. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[JaneyVee]

11. First he would need to be back in the US and be pardoned from something.

[Cha]

12. Pardon for the sneaky leaker? First he has to stop being a coward and get

his ass back to the USA. Not gonna happen. At least so far by his cowardly on the run actions.

[zappaman]

13. Easily the funniest thing I will see on the internet today!

Forget about guys kicking whacked in the balls with a baseball bat, or kitties pushing other kitties into the bathtub, or someone getting photobombed by a stingray....THIS is true comedy gold!

Thank you!

[OilemFirchen]

14. And another example of the depths to which modern "journalism" has plunged.

BTW, I'm happy to start the character assassination. Some people simply deserve it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Walt#cite_note-2

Jonathan Chait of The New Republic has called Walt an "ultra-Nixonian realist.

... which refers to this, from Chait:

You do see a fainter echo of this (Nixonian anti-Jewish) view today on the fringes of the debate among the likes of ultra-Nixonian realists like Stephen Walt, but even Walt believes that Americans Jews can prove their loyalty by adopting a sufficiently left-wing line on Israel. It's hard to imagine any president today refusing to allow his own national security adviser to participate in Israel-related debates on account of being Jewish.

More from Wikipedia:

Walt argues that NATO must be sustained because of four major areas where close cooperation is beneficial to European and American interest.[3]

Defeating international terrorism; Walt sees a need for cooperation between Europe and the United States in managing terrorist networks and stopping the flow of money to terror cells.[3]

Limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction; Walt argues that anti-proliferation efforts are most successful when Europe and the U.S. work in concert to bring loose nuclear material into responsible custody. He cites the case of Libya's willingness to abandon its nascent fission program after being pressured mulitilaterally as evidence of this.[3]

Managing the world economy; lowering barriers to trade and investment particularly between the U.S. and the E.U. will accelerates economic growth. Notable differences in trade policy stem mainly in areas of agricultural policy.[3]

Dealing with failed states; failed states are breeding grounds for anti-western movements. Managing failed states such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Somalia require a multinational response since the U.S. has insufficient wealth to modernise and rebuild these alone. In this area European allies are especially desirable because they have more experience with peacekeeping and "nation-building".[3]

Hitch yer wagons to him if you wish. I'll keep my distance from the disingenuous fuck, thank you.

[Agschmid]

16. I disagree...

[bunnies]

17. Wouldnt he have to be convicted of something first?

How can he be pardoned for something he isnt willing to stand trial for?