Free Snowden

I should begin by saying that of course I know Edward Snowden isn't in jail. He's technically a free man, but he's currently under political asylum in Moscow, somewhere I would like to be, but he has made abundantly clear he does not. We're forcing an American hero to hide abroad so we won't persecute him. This for a man who acted to inform us that our government was/is transgressing our constitutional right to privacy.

Of course he broke the law. I'm not challenging that Snowden broke the law and acted against the will of his employer. What I'm saying is that he deserves a pardon, and the only moral thing for either President Obama, or President Clinton when she takes over, to grant Snowden this executive right. Certainly, he broke the law. This isn't a case where someone was wrongly convicted, but much more akin to someone being given too harsh a sentence.

I believe that all Americans have essentially the same values and desires, we just have different ideas about how to get to them. Among these values is Liberty, and I view privacy as one of the primary and essential components of Liberty. The NSA monitoring was an assault of this inalienable right. Maybe you disagree, but the Supreme Court doesn't.

We should thank Snowden for stopping that, or, at least, bringing it into the light of day. A government shouldn't punish people for exposing their wrongdoings. Of course our government will eventually do something awful. Human beings are inherently flawed, and the government is made of a lot of people whose mistakes can be compounded with each other.

Just like humans, I can be convinced to forgive my government, but certainly not if it tries to deny that it ever did anything wrong. Definitely not if they try and punish the person who revealed their transgressions. Starting under President Bush, and continuing with President Obama, the federal government did something really really bad, but we still need them to be a functioning society.

I would have an incredible amount of respect for the the executive branch if they were to make the decision to own up to their mistakes, and forgive the person that revealed their errors. Problems will happen, and it's important for people and organizations of any scale to acknowledge and fix their problems. Overall, I've been happy with Obama's presidency, but if he wants something to make me never forget his time, he'll pardon Snowden. And if Trump wants to reassure me he has even a sliver of humanity, well he'd do the same.