Universal Heroism

"The reality is that I have acted at great personal risk to help the public of the world, regardless of whether that public is American, European, or Asian."
"These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador have my gratitude and respect, for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful."
Edward Snowden, former contract worker with the U.S. National Intelligence Service

Edward Snowden photographed in Moscow, Russia December, 2013. (Photo by Barton Gellman for The Washington Post)

President Barack Obama is being called on to consider granting Edward Snowden "some form of clemency" in recognition of the "great service" he has done for his country. Certainly Edward Snowden agrees that he put himself out on a fragile limb to expose what he considers to be human rights offences of invasion of privacy against Americans, and foreign governments. For having the courage to expose the United States of America for its demonic infiltration into peoples' privacy.

And expressing his sincere and unabridged gratitude to the kindly auspices of other countries who in their rigorous observation of the niceties of human rights imperatives have recognized in him, Edward Snowden, a hero for these parlous times of Internet spying, cyberspace invasion and communications interception making the world a far more dangerous place for the governments and peoples of Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

The wonder of it all is that the United Nations has somehow held back on offering Edward Snowden an executive position in its own vast communications system to ensure that no untoward underhanded surveillance carried out by that bastion of democracy-crushing imperialism that once employed him, infiltrates that hallowed institution courageously dedicated to human rights protection.

Edward Snowden harboured such an amazingly low opinion of his country and its national security apparatus, scornful of its paranoia of terrorist activities unkindly aimed toward its citizens and its institutions that he deliberately set out to scupper its relations with friend and foe alike. And then sought refuge first in China, then in Russia, as his considered first choices for asylum from the anticipated and unfair arm of American justice that would seek him out.

Long may he live in China or Russia.

Then he entertained the world's press by accounts of his prowess in pursuing a course of action undertaken in defiance of loyalty to the nation that bred, sheltered and entitled him.  The plan was carefully laid and carried out to achieve the end he had targeted. Gaining employment with Booz Allen Hamilton which garnered him a position with the NSA as a contractor to give him "access to lists of machines all over the world [that] the NSA hacked".

Three months of his unstinting attention, machinations and malevolently intrusive labour were sufficient to achieve that goal. Gaining access to his notorious cache of documents by convincing 20 to 25 of his fellow employees to share their logins and passwords with him to aid him in 'managing his job' as systems administrator. Effectively managing to ensure that all of those gulled into innocent alliance with his infiltration would be fired.

Estimates range from "tens of thousands" to over a million classified documents having been purloined by Edward Snowden under his very successful scheme at NSA's signals intelligence centre in Hawaii.  He began modestly, sharing some of his data with the Washington Post and Britain's The Guardian, but he has far grander and more far-reaching plans to achieve even greater celebrity, planning to release ever more data through an even wider distribution.

He achieved his goal of embarrassing his government, and revealing to the world at large the existence of classified documents demonstrating infidelity to trust of one's allies, to the great disgust of those same allies who may have known what was revealed, but had no wish for it to become public. Edward Snowden's megalomania, however, knows no bounds, and he is beyond gratified at the attention he has received, basking in the nomenclature of celebrity and hero and courageous.

The United States government is understandably invested in reclaiming its documents, illegally and immorally lifted by one of its very own. Who most certainly must know if he is a fraction as intelligent as he believes he is, that the very two countries he first relied upon to rescue him from his stupid folly have self-incriminating files of a far more all-encompassing nature than those of the NAS in reflection of one of the world's oldest preoccupations; spying on one's neighbours and enemies alike.