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In reply to the discussion: Schieffer Destroys Snowden: ‘I Don’t Remember Martin Luther King Jr. Or Rosa Parks Hiding In China’ [View all]Bradical79
(4,490 posts)"For one thing, I dont remember Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks running off and hiding in China. The people who led the civil rights movement were willing to break the law and suffer the consequences. Thats a little different than putting the nations security at risk and running away.
For people in the civil rights movement breaking the law and suffering the consequences was part of their protest. Rosa Parks didn't need to say anything, she wasn't exposing state secrets. It was demonstration. And Martin Luther King? He's was murdered. That's an awfully tall order for anyone. Does he hold the same negative opinions of Chinese dissidents or persecuted journalists who have sought asylum in other nations? I have no problem with that so I don't see how hiding in another country in and of itself is relevant to how I should perceive Snowden. Now if Schiefer wants to explore Snowden's specific choice of country and specifically how he revealed his information, he might have a good point, but Schiefer chose not to go for that angle.
"I know eleven people who died or lost a member of their family on 9/11. My younger daughter lived in Manhattan then. It was six hours before we knew she was safe. Im not interested in going through that again."
That's a completely understandable feeling, but it's a poor argument for a journalist to make. It's the same thing that fueled the Patriot Act, Bush's ability to fool most of America into thinking the Iraq War was just, Guantanamo Bay, and justification for torture.
"I think what we have in Edward Snowden is just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us."
Now he's just name calling.