The whistle blower as hero.

The whistle blower, Edward Snowden, may turn out to be a huge jerk.  He may even soil his own name with something stupid, but what he did for us, as citizens of a “free democracy,” can’t be ignored.  For that, he is a hero in my book.

He had the courage to say, “…look at your government and what they are doing and what they are capable of doing and how they are doing it.  Your lawmakers have given the spooks free reign over your constitutionally-guaranteed rights.” The quotes are mine, made up of course, but that is his message to us.

How has this come to pass?

We have abdicated our rights and freedom in the name of security. We are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave, but rather we have become the scared, the meek and the shamefully cowardice nation. Perhaps we get what we deserve.

We are fighting a war on terrorism, we are told. And because of this war we must endure the loss of certain freedoms. The British did it against the IRA. Yet, their civil liberties were not reined in.  Does this mean the British are braver than Americans? No. It means their intelligent services aren’t as lazy as the NSA, CIA and FBI.  They didn’t have to depend on a secret court with hidden documents outside the light of due process and legitimate law to accomplish the tasks at hand.

It is easy to point the finger at this young man and yell, treason, traitor and even other pejoratives. It feels wholly American to do so. Almost patriotic. (Like the Patriot Act, it is misguided and misnamed.) Those actions and catcalls at Snowden mask the truth. He helped bring to light the fact that since Bush and Chaney (and now under Obama) we have a government who will do and can do anything it wishes in order to keep us safe.

And that, my fellow Americans makes me feel far less safe than anything the terrorists have yet done.