It’s almost a case of life imitating cinema art. The dramatic flight of NSA leaker Edward Snowden from Hong Kong now reportedly involves Wikileak legal advisors, diplomats and the cooperation and/or enabling of his flight from American extradition by several countries (China and Russia in particular). And reaction is pouring in via the new and “old” media. Here’s a cross section:
So, it appears for now at least that Edward Snowden may be slipping out of the grasp of American law enforcement. As for Snowden himself, I do have to say that he’s not exactly helping his public relations cause by seeking protection from nations like China, Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela. Unlike many, I don’t condemn his as a traitor and I think there’s at least some merit to the argument that he has made public things that the American people had a right to know about. At the same time, though, he clearly broke the law and ought to stand trial for his actions. Whether he ever will one day, though, is another question.
The play here looks like appealing to perceived enemies of the US that have enough independence that they could resist US pressure, or will find some benefit in sheltering Snowden. Given the brutality that Bradley Manning faced, one could easily imagine Venezuela sighing that, “due to US treatment of dissidents, we regretfully cannot comply with this extradition order.” Stay tuned.
That must be a relief for Our Liberal Media. No longer pressed to discuss that icky NSA spying that some of their biggest internet and telecom competitors enable, media personalities can now move into familiar territory: Edward Snowden’s White Bronco Moment™.
Fleeing to Freedom in Moscow — or another, even more nefarious destination! — the traitor/hero/whistleblower/BoozAllen employee who decided that we should know what the NSA is doing to us in our names, every day, day in day out in their relentless fight to Keep Us Safe has now boarded a plane and will arrive in Moscow sometime, perhaps only in transit…..Rampant speculation about “where will Edward Snowden go next???” will completely crowd out any discussion of, you know, the news that the NSA is collecting data on US persons.
The US had, apparently, thought it had been getting pretty close to striking a deal with Hong Kong, but before the extradition treaty was signed. Hong Kong, however, was not on the same page, and was willing to let Snowden leave pending the US’s further explanation of Snowden’s allegations that the US had complex espionage webs across Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China, which he made during an interview with state-run media.
Snowden claims to be headed for a democratic nation, but his judgment in that area is questionable at best, considering that he hopped from a state under heavy socialist control to a full on police state. Perhaps on his short jaunt through Moscow, he can talk to Pussy Riot about how well their commitment to exposing the holes in the Russian government’s civil rights protections is working out. Of course, he may not have much time, since he’s scheduled to touch down in one dictatorship before jumping straight to another. But at least we know he’s not a Chinese spy.
Or something.
There’s a lot of speculation now on Snowden’s final destination, including Cuba, Ecuador (which has given Julian Assange refuge in its London embassy), Iceland and Venezuela. Iceland would seem to be the most pleasant destination, from a personal freedom and non-horrifying-rulers perspective, but his reception there is uncertain. Where he ends up seems largely dependent on which government is willing to risk — and resist — the wrath of the United States government by taking in the high-profile whistleblower.
The one thing that’s absolutely clear, right now, is that Edward Snowden must run to escape prosecution for espionage by the United States government for revealing to the American people, and the world, part of the vast threat to liberty and privacy that government now poses.
VIDEO: Chuck Schumer on Snowden’s flight:
Golly — do you think Edward Snowden is worried about his reputation at the moment, or his ability to remain out of the reach of the FBI? Senator Rand Paul appeared on CNN’s State of the Union after news broke earlier today that Snowden had boogie-footed it to the Muscovite paradise of free speech, probably as an interim stop on his way to Venezuela, Cuba, or perhaps Iceland. Paul hailed Snowden as a truth-teller and condemned DNI James Clapper as a liar, but said both had to account for their “criminal” acts. And if Snowden went to a nation hostile to both America and human rights, Paul warned that Snowden risked tarnishing his reputation by doing so…
…Er, isn’t reputation a secondary issue at this point? Iceland may be the only legitimate destination on the radar which both respects human rights and doesn’t normally extradite people like Snowden to the US. Even Iceland might not be a sure thing, and Snowden has to arrive there before actually applying for asylum. With the US charging Snowden with espionage and not merely as a leaker, that application has some risk of failure. That basically leaves Snowden with a range of choices of nations with US relations that go from contentious (Russia) to hostile (Venezuela) to outright enemies (Cuba). He doesn’t have too many other choices. Unless France wants to put him up in Ira Einhorn’s old digs, that is.
This isn’t civil disobedience, by the way: civil disobedience is when you tell the cops to go ahead and arrest you, the legal system to go ahead and convict you, and the government to go ahead and actually put you in jail. Civil disobedience is about doing what you think is right and accepting the consequences. Otherwise, it’s presumption, arrogance, and the arrogant presumption of privilege (literally: “private law”). Which is an excellent way to describe Ed Snowden, frankly. And Wikileaks, come to think of it….
He’s gone to Russia. Russia, where they kill uppity journalists. Oh, I’m sure that Snowden isn’t planning to stay; he’ll no doubt end up somewhere that Barack Obama won’t dare send someone to collect him (which, these days, includes Lichtenstein). I just wonder whether Vladimir Putin has contemplated that while it’s always fun to push around a weak American President, the next one may have a bit of an issue with that…
Some Tweets:
I think #Snowden would be more of a hero if he flew back to America and faced the music.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 23, 2013
Hong Kong Press Release Boldly Defends Snowden Departure, Accuses U.S. Of Cyberattacks http://t.co/uUYNt61RCL
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 23, 2013
History of US dirty wars in Latin America makes it highly unlikely any requests will be obeyed http://t.co/CRfP4Kyd9W #Snowden
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) June 23, 2013
I Wanna Know What Search Engine Snowden Uses That When He Searches For "Democratic Countries" He Gets China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela Ecuador
— ElmObamaTwoTermz (@lordxmen2k) June 23, 2013
Interesting that the Guardian so vigorously supports #Snowden criminal hacking. Same paper that wants journalists jailed for it in UK.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 23, 2013
You know, it's possible to oppose govt abuse AND disapprove of Snowden's actions. Hate all this either/or absolutism.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) June 23, 2013
Snowden Worshippers. Comparing Snowden to Black heroes of Liberation and Civil Rights is REALLY @#$%ING OFFENSIVE and you should stop. NOW!
— Malcolm Johnson (@admiralmpj) June 23, 2013
Chuck Todd joins Gregory in wondering what Greenwald's active role in leak was, especially since a lawyer etc. http://t.co/GugWe8PyU4
— Greg Mitchell (@GregMitch) June 23, 2013
REMINDER: 'Enough with the breathless comparisons. Edward Snowden is no Daniel Ellsberg.' http://t.co/ssz6bDIdfM
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) June 23, 2013
The big question is whether in the long run America will regret the leaks — if it makes things easier for America’s terrorist enemies.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.