It is like Fareed Zakaria read my mind this morning.
I had been trying to decide just what it was I thought about the man who admitted leaking classified National Security Agency information to the media.
As I was coming to the conclusion that he is a coward, Zakaria’s CNN program started and the host quoted Martin Luther King on civil disobedience:
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”
As someone who once held a top secret security clearance, and who understood the consequences I would face if I violated the Espionage Act, I have no sympathy for Edward Snowden. Neither should you.
Let’s assume that Snowden believed that he was serving some public good by breaking the law. Forget for a moment that there are other ways to bring attention to official wrongdoing than giving secrets to the media. The only honorable thing he could do to follow up on his disclosures was to face the consequences.
So far he does not seem so inclined. Rather, he hides while his father tries to make a deal for him that no responsible official should even consider.
Snowden is no hero. He is just a coward.
The Smith Compound 