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Home Front: Politix

Should Snowden and Assange Pardon the U.S. Government?

2020-08-21

[FFF] President Trump is saying that he might issue a pardon to Edward Snowden. For some reason, he hasn’t said the same thing about Julian Assange.

Mr. Snowden was a Russian spy. Mr. Assange happily published the intelligence thievings of a Russian spy. As a result lots of sources were murdered. And Mr. Assange has published the intelligence thievings of a great many others, resulting in more ruined lives and murders.

But a pardon suggests that the person being pardoned has done something wrong. Neither Snowden and Assange has done anything wrong — at least not in a moral sense.

Unmitigated bullshit.

It is the U.S. government — and specifically the national-security state branch of the federal government — that has engaged in terrible wrongdoing — wrongdoing that Snowden and Assange revealed to the American people and the people of the world.

Therefore, the real question is: Should Snowden and Assange pardon the U.S. for having destroyed a large part of their lives and liberty?

Neither man has been horribly murdered, so they’re doing better than most captured spies. They really have nothing to complain about.

Oh, sure, the two of them technically violated the federal government’s national-security laws, rules, and regulations against revealing the dark-side, sordid policies and practices of the national-security establishment. Big deal. Those laws, rules, and regulations are illegitimate, at least in a moral sense. Why should the dark-side, sordid policies and practices of a government be immune from disclosure?

Clearly the writer hasn't heard Winston Churchill’s dictum on truth.

Posted by:Clem

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Posted by: Clem 2020-08-21 23:59

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Posted by: trailing wife 2020-08-21 23:56

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Posted by: Clem 2020-08-21 21:45

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Posted by: Raj 2020-08-21 10:07

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