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Showing Original Post only (View all)Edward Snowden jumps the shark in Moscow - Jonathan Capehart [View all]
** Wonder what Ellsberg will say about this request by Snowden. I'd guess his primary advisor is Julian Assange
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/07/01/edward-snowden-jumps-the-shark-in-moscow/
Last month, I pleaded for an end to the breathless comparisons between Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg. News that the present-day intelligence leaker has asked the Russians for asylum should put it to rest. Sure, Snowden made the same request of other nations. But flirting with Moscow is a credibility killer.
Im all for whistleblowers revealing what government is doing, especially if it stretches the bounds of legality or if its flat-out illegal. What we know of what Snowden has released of interest to the American public has been known for a while. But what has stuck in my craw from the outset was Snowden fleeing the country.
Snowden earned side eyes from me with his decision to hightail it to Hong Kong (read, China). Then he bolted for Moscow. For a man trying to win public opinion against what he called the vast and illegal overreach of the National Security Agency, heading to Russia wasnt exactly a smart P.R. move. That nation and Russian President Vladimir Putin arent exactly this nations best friend. Heck, they barely rise to the level of frenemy.
Just in his comments today, Putin said of Snowden, If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He has to stop his work aimed at damaging our U.S. partners, no matter how strange this sounds coming from me. But when it came to President Obamas entreaties that Snowden be extradited, Putin said, Russia never extradites anyone anywhere and is not going to extradite anyone. Great.