Robert Scheer: Obama, Congress Owe Snowden Thanks, and a Pardon

[brentspeak]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/obama-congress-owe-snowde_b_4172406.html

Obama, Congress Owe Snowden Thanks, and a Pardon
by Robert Scheer
Editor, Truthdig.com; Author, 'The Great American Stickup'

Posted: 10/29/2013 2:43 am

Now we know that even the president needs leaks from Edward Snowden to be fully informed about the dastardly acts of his own top spy agency. It was Snowden's recent revelations that led Obama to order an investigation into spying on private communications of 35 world leaders, including our closest allies, a clear betrayal of the trust needed to establish a more peaceful world.

According to a Wall Street Journal account from senior U.S. officials, the president had been kept in the dark as to the extent of the NSA spy program: "President Barack Obama went nearly five years without knowing his own spies were bugging the phones of world leaders. Officials said the NSA has so many eavesdropping operations under way that it wouldn't have been practical to brief him on all of them. They added that the president was briefed on and approved of broader intelligence-collection 'priorities,' but that those below him make decisions about specific intelligence targets." Huh?

snip

In any case, the administration has confirmed that the president has declared Merkel's cellphone an eavesdrop-free zone and is re-evaluating the taping of phone calls of other free world heads of state. But what about the rights of ordinary folks like those in Spain, where 60 million phone calls were monitored in a single month, according to another of Snowden's indispensable leaks?

snip

She got that right, and the fact of the matter is that she was clued in only thanks to the public service performed by Snowden in exposing the NSA's despicable behavior. In June, (Diane) Feinstein rushed to condemn Snowden as a traitor, saying, "I don't look at this as being a whistle-blower. I think it's an act of treason. ... He violated the oath. He violated the law. It's treason." She should now apologize to Snowden for honoring his oath to protect the Constitution.

[DBoon]

1. and the Los Angeles Times owes Robert Sheer his job back

loss of this first rate journalist for the like of Jonah Goldberg was an all time low

[SidDithers]

2. ...

Sid