The obvious framing that eluded the myriad of supporters and writers that penned millions of words on Edward Snowden. John Lewis explains
Asked in interview with the Guardian whether Snowden was engaged in an act of civil disobedience, Lewis nodded and replied: “In keeping with the philosophy and the discipline of non-violence, in keeping with the teaching of Henry David Thoreau and people like Gandhi and others, if you believe something that is not right, something is unjust, and you are willing to defy customs, traditions, bad laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to defy those laws and be willing to pay the price.”
“That is what we did,” he added. “I got arrested 40 times during the sixties. Since I’ve been in Congress I’ve been arrested four times. Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it.”
In related news, President Barack Obama displayed petulance in trying to mimic GWB’s tough guy act by cancelling his little tete-a-tete with Putin. It’s hard work to make oneself look smaller than Putin. And a hypocrite as Glenn Greenwald reminds us:
America’s refusal to extradite Bolivia’s ex-president to face genocide charges
Obama justice officials have all but granted asylum to Sánchez de Lozada – a puppet who payrolled key Democratic advisers.
[Update] John Lewis didn’t intend to praise Snowden for his act of civil disobedience. Because, oh, I don’t know … something about Snowden not marching with others, getting their heads cracked, and bodies hauled off to jail for a day or two. Guess Rep. Lewis hasn’t noticed that Bradley Manning has been locked up for years and then there’s Barrett Brown.
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Perhaps Hillary took it home as souvenir!
See my latest comment – Obama Snubs Putin Over Snowden.
Dumped in the trash after the photo-op with la Clinton looking foolish with a prop that she couldn’t work.
Moscow being polite at this point to stay out of the way as Obama shoots himself in his foot.
Outin: “Please proceed, Mr. President.”
Putin – hit post too fast.
Greenwald promising more to come.
That should get the attention of many in the world, but in the US, maybe not.
Ah, but Snowden isn’t willing to pay the price like Lewis and Ghandi.
Says who? You seriously believe that Snowden hasn’t put his life on the line? I’m sure everybody relishes the idea of being holed up in the Moscow airport for weeks. Would you be happier if he were thrown into solitary confinement, tortured and locked up for decades like Bradley Manning? Strange sort of justice we have in this country when only those that engage in civil disobedience are expected to suffer while the criminals in government and industry who make civil disobedience the only option for the powerless to attempt to right those wrongs are free to continue stealing and killing.
Lewis said the price was going to jail for your beliefs. Snowden hasn’t been willing t9o do that.
What Lewis said:
He carefully, and correctly IMHO, said “willing to pay the price” and then went on to define what that “price” was for himself and others in the 1950s-1960s US civil rights movement as going to jail. Are you sure that Lewis and others were always arrested when they engaged in acts of civil disobedience?
I was interpreting “pay the price” fairly broadly, as were you. I guess I would ask, what purpose would being detained in isolation, never to be heard from again serve? If feasible, it would seem to me that someone in Snowden’s position would want to evade the US prison system in order to best get his message across. He may well realize that the US has a fairly long reach, and imprisonment/torture or violent death may well be an inevitability. In the meantime, it strikes me – and perhaps I am truly wrong – that Snowden has payed on heck of a price for his actions, and will continue to pay for as long as he can draw a breath. There would be nothing in the way of a glorious sacrifice if he had simply offered himself up to the mercy of our current system and been imprisoned. Of course I could just be a jaded old man.
From where I sit, I am convinced Snowden is paying a price for his actions. He has been something of an unwanted guest in Hong Kong and currently Russia. Although he may one day be a more welcome guest in one of a number of socialist-leaning nations in South or Central America, those governments are just close enough to the Yanquis for discomfort – and the stability of those countries’ governments is still something of an unknown (what I might wish and what might transpire could be radically different things, I fear). Even under the best of circumstances, he must be constantly looking over his shoulder, living each moment as his last before being black-bagged and thrown into the deepest darkest hole imaginable once the price is right or he loses whatever informational value or political value he might currently possess (his choice to flee the US, given what has happened to the likes of Bradley Manning would be arguable a rational choice under the circumstances). He will likely never see his family again. And on it goes.
He’ll be paying for some time to come.
See my reply to Marie2 immediately above.
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Martin Luther King wrote a letter in Birmingham prison.
Gandhi started his resistance movement in Transvaal [Sept. 11, 1906].
Mandela spend 18 years on Robben Island.
Solzhenitsyn wrote the Gulag Archipelago in prison.
As a miliary, Pfc Manning was protected in a “comfortable” jail, except for his isolation and “torture”.
As a civilian, Snowden would face death in any US prison [vigilantes see him as a traitor] with lack of basic human rights.
What comes to mind in comparison is the dungeon in the Tower of London under King Edward’s rule.
The age of absolutism returns to Washington DC, thanks to both Democrats and Republicans.
Edward Snowden has shown caution and courage to choose self-exile, a position which is most difficult to survive psychologically.
See my new diary – Lavabit and the Strong Arm of Big Brother USA.
MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was one of my freshman college English class readings.
Mandela was surprised that he didn’t get the death penalty. He wasn’t exactly following the non-violent civil disobedience map.
Medea Benjamin and members of Code Pink have been arrested many times, and how many Americans have heard of her or Code Pink much less have any idea of what they stand for? For that matter, Snowden and his act are likely more well-known than Bradley Manning. The messenger and how the message is delivered are very important.
Solzhenitsyn wrote “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” in prison. (Later published with the approval of Khrushchev who also ended Solzhenitsyn’s internal exile.) “The Gulag Archipelago” came later. Equally, if not more important, was Sakharov:
Sakharov’s successes and fame predated his confinement to internal exile.
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Your link doesn’t work, here is article in EFF – Barrett Brown Prosecution Threatens Right to Link, Could Criminalize Routine Journalism Practices.
The harassment of Aaron Swartz comes to mind. See suggestion by blogger Yastreblyansky.
My recent diery – Obama and the NSA Winning the War Against Journalists?
Linked fixed – thanks.
Literacy and access to information have always been an area that society elites work to control and restrict from the masses. With each technological innovation that expands the potential reach written ideas, thoughts, etc., the institutional crackdown becomes more obvious. It’s a struggle and as in all struggles there will be direct and indirect casualties. Not sure which category Aaron Swartz belongs in. Probably no way for anyone to know if they possess the mental discipline and resilience of an incarcerated Nelson Mandela. Bradley Manning is awesome and totally surprising.
Have you watched the Barrett Brown video that landed him in hot water? Disturbing.