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I originally posted my article on June 25, 2013.  I’m prompted to re-post it after reading this Edward J. Epstein May 9, 2014 WSJ article about the possibility that the whistleblower story was used as a cover for espionage.   It takes into account which documents were stolen, the timing of when he took which docs, and the involvement of China and Russia in harboring him after he fled the U.S.   What the article talks about makes much more sense than Snowden being a lone whistleblower who acted out of conscience.

Was Snowden’s Heist a Foreign Espionage Operation?

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304831304579542402390653932

I use the words “treasonous” and “terrorist” in the headline but  I was referring to Snowden’s actions, not his intent.  I wrote the piece from the stance that Snowden was a whistleblower, which is how he’s always been presented by himself and the media.  I was incorrect in referring to him as a programmer; he was an “infrastructure analyst.”

It really bothers me that he hasn’t been captured and tried.  Or shot.

When I started the opinion column, it was for the purpose of sharing photographs I thought would add literal color to the site, which I found stark and administrative.  My intent was to accompany the photos with opinions on lighter subjects.  I’m retaining the headline and photos I used in the original posting.

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My back yard, Dutchess County, Hudson Valley, April 24, 2013, 5:25am

How self-important and lacking in perspective is this lunatic that he would think it was his duty to compromise our nation’s security by doing what he did?   This otherwise completely inconsequential jerk actually thinks he knows more about NATIONAL SECURITY than our NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY?  This is way past treasonous, this is terrorism.  Anyone that doesn’t think so is as stupid, naive and delusional as this loony.  It absolutely makes sense that he’s a computer programmer.  The reason people go into programming and IT is 1) programming or any IT job isn’t difficult at all, it just takes an interest, a related college education (if that) and training (I started as a Computer Sciences major and found programming too easy and even more uninteresting) and people that are actually talented go into other fields and 2) because computers don’t make them feel bad about themselves like the real world does.  There are obviously exceptions and I’ve met and worked with IT and programming guys that were smart, hard-working, well-rounded and well-adjusted.  Any generalization inherently has exceptions.

Landenberg, Chester County, PA, April 24, 2011 1:19pm

Here are other disappointing and counter-intuitive realities this jerk likely doesn’t know yet:

– Too many politicians are in it to advance their personal agenda, which is ultimately power and money

– Trial lawyers are not about getting to the truth, they’re about winning

– Too many teachers, coaches and managers think it’s about them and not about the students, athletes and employees

– The reason police resort to doing things like planting drugs on criminals they can’t catch otherwise is to stop them from committing those other crimes — like murder — that are much harder to prove, make arrests for and prosecute.  The means are questionable but the end is not.

Trout fry in Home Depot pail, April 24, 2013 11:19am

What this guy did is not the way to show your objection to government-approved privacy invasion, which someone would only question after putting no real thought into why it’s being done.  This guy signed a NDA and didn’t complain when he was getting his paychecks.  Yeah, this jerk has real convictions.  It always bothered me how counterintuitive it is that the most dysfunctional and insecure people within organizations are the same people who had the most access to its vital information.  It’s not uncommon for IT people to sabotage information systems after they get fired or are made unhappy.  If you can’t trust that what the government does is ultimately in the best interest of the country, leave.  Get the fuck out.  If the spying is done in the name of protecting our country and the result is catching terrorists and other criminals, which it is and which it is, then I support it fully.  If anything, I find comfort knowing an effort is made to protect us from terrorists and criminals and they even can raise it up as many notches as they want.  MORE SPYING MIGHT HAVE PREVENTED 9/11.

Central Park, 59th Street near 5th Avenue, New York City, 2008

What else is to be gained by spying that concerns people who object to it?  Do you people think the government is going to gossip about your personal habits?  Are you doing something you’re afraid of being caught doing?  Then don’t do it.  This sort of thing has been going on for centuries in one form or another and has been effective if not perfect.  Do you really think the individuals who perform that job do it because it’s enjoyable and they like getting into people’s personal business?  It’s incredibly tedious and these people have to research countless leads that leave them empty-handed more often than not.   It’s a massive amount of work relative to its success rate, but any success in catching terrorists is good.  When they’re successful, they can’t even tell anyone or the media.  If their successes were made public, their positions could be compromised.  They have to keep it to themselves and can only focus on trying to find the next bad guy.  They don’t get the fulfillment of sharing their success and their families don’t get the satisfaction and bond of knowing what they do for a living.  The satisfaction these people get is in their paycheck and knowing they are trying to protect the country.  If their failures were made public, our weaknesses would be revealed and the public would become paranoid and feel vulnerable.   If anyone spies on me they’ll be bored immediately and move on.  To accept things are the way they are isn’t a cop-out, it’s understanding reality and the way things work.  Things are corrupt on every level and in every area.

Lake Tahoe, Nevada, December 10, 2012 4:51pm

Russia, China and the U.S. not only know each spies on the other two but they fully expect it and would think either of the others was stupid if they didn’t.  Likewise with spying on their own people.  It’s a game played on the biggest scale and there are rules they all abide by.  They catch each other and us and we catch them and it’s usually done without making headlines.  The exact same thing happens between the major political parties.  It’s all part of the warped game everyone recognizes is flawed, expensive and time-consuming but it’s also tragically irreversible.

The real hero will be the person that saves the time and tax dollars it will take to find, imprison and try this lunatic by shooting him in the head before the authorities get to him.  We all know he’s guilty; the middle man will just be cut out of the process.  If given the chance, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him myself then deal with the consequences later. I grew up hunting so pulling a trigger when it needs to be pulled wouldn’t faze me in the least.  He has to be made an example of to any similar naive lunatics-in-waiting with their finger on the “send” key.

Downtown San Francisco, The Bay Bridge and Berkeley, view from Twin Peaks, December 7, 2012 4:27pm

Even Russia and China think this guy is insane. That whole thing with Russia offering him asylum is posturing and taunting on Russia’s part. Way to play into Putin’s hands, jerk. This guy revealed nothing they (and China) didn’t already know and just proves to Russia, China and even North Korea that the oppressive way they treat their people is superior, effective and necessary because no one in their countries has made a similar such high-profile security breach.  He just made things even worse for the oppressed people in those countries by justifying their methods.  What happened just makes the U.S. and our way of life look weak to the rest of the world.  People who are now serving life prison sentences in those other countries because they thought like he does even think he’s a jerk.  If they could have, knowing what they know now, they’d have advised him otherwise.  They have a lot of time to think.  If you’re going to mount a movement, make sure you have a bigger army than the government.

If this kook thinks what he did was such a good thing why is running like a coward?   Be a man and be accountable for your actions.  He should be tried and convicted as quickly as possible — there should be new laws made for exactly this sort of thing because criminals have too many rights — and publicly executed in the most slow and painful way possible to make him an example to other similar delusional and self-important lunatics.

It’s as wrong to mindlessly accept what’s going on with our government as it is to mindlessly question it and, even worse, sabotage it.  Once you take it upon yourself to sabotage the government and, in essence, the entire country, you become wrong to an extreme because the implications are so far-reaching and the damage is irreversible. What this guy did is absolutely thoughtless and completely indefensible.

DPW

June 25, 2013   (Those last four pictures were taken 5/2/2013 in my neighbors’ yard.)

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