The NPR headline reads "Daniel Ellsberg Expected Life in Prison After Leaking Pentagon Papers".
Daniel Ellsberg was called a "traitor" and every other name in the book. I was in high school. I remember. He may still be that in the eyes of a few, but for the most part, history has exonerated his actions.
It's easy to compare Edward Snowden to Daniel Ellsberg because he appears to have done us all a service revealing this information on the NSA's government sanctioned overview of private phone calls of private citizens, aka, you and me.
The Political Carnival referenced this LA Times article with a fresh perspective on the revelations of Edward Snowden, focusing on, not whether or not he's a traitor but rather if the information he reveals is true.
"Standing on principle is meaningless if there is no risk attached. That’s his cross to bear.But in the greater scheme of things, the 29-year-old infrastructure analyst did the country a service.Even President Obama, while condemning the leak, seemed to acknowledge as much. “I welcome this debate,” Obama said last week. “And I think it's healthy for our democracy.”
3 comments:
thanks for posting this. I had not heard it before. I noticed that Daniel Ellsberg agree that certain information should be classified top secret.
I believe secrecy would work perfectly fine if we could trust the officials not to misuse it's power. I'm sure this NSA program has helped protect us from terrorist plots. What we don't know is if it was misused. I held a top secret clearance myself once. The thought of leaking anything never crossed my mind. The discussion of this program is good but I think we need these types of programs. Maybe the oversight could improve. Mr. Snowden didn't appear to respect the rules he said he would uphold.
I haven't been a fan of the Patriot Act since its inception, and I think it's important we get some checks and balances going.
I, too, remember the reveal of the Pentagon Papers. Let's hope history reveals the historic importance of Snowden as it has Ellsberg. Although, with the press looking under rocks for any tawdry piece to blacken Snowden's credibility, it may prove more difficult.
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