Life as a government traitor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Somehow, Snowden had convinced himself that he could “out” the U.S. government monitoring program, flee the country, blab a few critical U.S. secrets, then be taken in and protected by a foreign government for life — all while being looked at as a hero back home. Too bad he never concocted a Plan B.
Snowden originally sought refuge in Hong Kong, before jetting off to Russia in anticipation of a safe house there. However, Snowden never fully considered the power and tenacity of the United States government and their ability to coerce foreign governments into turning Snowden away — which is exactly what happened.
The U.S. government revoked Snowden’s passport, effectively limiting his ability to travel. Russia then refused him admission into the country, which left Snowden in limbo and unable to leave the airport. But the bad news doesn’t end there.
Last week, Snowden withdrew his request for asylum in Russia after realizing it was a lost cause. Russia did not feel Snowden was worth the cost of an international incident with the United States, as did other countries, who rely heavily on foreign trade with America. Snowden also received a new batch of refusals from 19 countries he begged to show him mercy and admit him. They didn’t. Following an appeal to the Polish government, which also rejected him, Snowden is now hoping against hope that invitations from the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan governments will pan out. However, unless he can successfully travel to and land in one of these countries, he will be facing life imprisonment in the United States. Or worse, since Nicaragua and Venezuela can not offer him safe protection like China and Russia could, he could simply be captured or killed on the streets by the CIA or some other agency.
Perhaps Edward Snowden should have first weighed all the risks of going up against the world’s greatest superpower. Perhaps he should have been satisfied at being a hero for exposing the NSA program, instead of being labeled a traitor for sharing secret data with foreign governments that potentially puts the American people at great risk. Perhaps he could have handled this all very differently, instead of being a man with a bulls eye on his back.
Whatever the case, Edward Snowden is in way over his head and has run out of lifelines. Edward, my boy — it’s time to pay the piper, come on home and face the music!
Perhaps Edward Snowden should have first weighed all the risks of going up against the world's greatest superpower. Perhaps he should have been satisfied at being a hero for exposing the NSA program, instead of being labeled a traitor for sharing secret data with foreign governments that potentially puts the American people at great risk. Perhaps he could have handled this all very differently, instead of being a man with a bulls eye on his back. […..]
Yep. That about sums it up DJ.