Heroes or Traitors?

Edward Snowden and Bowe Bergdahl:  heroes or traitors?

Snowden plainly broke the law when he stole super-secret information from the U.S. Government and gave it to news media.  Many say he gave our government’s serets to our enemies, and that makes him a traitor. 

But others say he showed us Americans how our own government has been spying on us in ways “1984” never even dreamed of, and that can only be good.  

Personally, I think Snowden is a hero, or will be when he comes home to face trial.  I believe deeply that every American has the right, even sometimes the duty, to beak the law —  if he is willing to pay the consequences.  Snowden broke the law, although apparently for patriotic reasons.  Now he just needs to complete the job by paying the consequences.

And what a trial it would be. Everybody, from the judge to us faraway spectators,  would be acutely aware that all of us have benefitted greatly from his crime.

Bergdahl’s case is different.

Bergdahl walked away from his comrades-in-arms at a very dangerous time in a very dangerous place, and thus became the Taliban’s prisoner. President Obama gained his release by trading away five of the Taliban’s top leaders. 

Was the trade worth it?  

What we’ve heard so far is that Bergdahl could be a deserter, perhaps even a traitor.  To many, giving up five men who almost certainly will return to war against us seems stupid and probably illegal.

But unlike Snowden, there are many questions that must be answered.  Many unknowns.

Besides, the United States never leaves a soldier behind.  Never.

So the jury’s out on that one.  Let’s wait, and not leap to judgment.

-Skip

Privacy?  What Privacy

We can give up the idea that any of us has any real privacy anymore.  Or ever will again.  

And there’s nothing you, I, or even any government can do about it.

And no, that’s not paranoia speaking.  It’s just observation.

For one thing, as long as you are within view of any other people, you know at least some of them have their pocket cameras at the ready.  Those cameras are the main reason more photographs were taken in 2013 than in all other years combined. 

By the way, if you carry one of those little pocket computers, “they” can track you wherever you go. 

Walk the aisles of any store, or through its parking lot, and you know a camera is filming you.

Use your grocery store’s discount card and build an accessible record of your eating habits.  Use your credit card and risk having it swept up by hackers. 

And that doesn’t even mention what our governments do.

Not only does Uncle Sam snoop into who we’re talking to — and when, and for how long — but now he’s even lifting our photos from social web sites to be used by face-recognition gizmos. 

Then there are the drones that will fill the skies in just a few years, their cameras whirring constantly.  And not just government drones.  Already you can google  photos of your own backyard that were taken from space.

And already Google can drive past your house and, in a fraction of a second, learn all of your email contacts.

Privacy?  Gone.

But unless you’re breaking a law, do you really care?  

After all, the way to be truly free is simple: break no laws for which you are not willing to pay the consequences.  Then what can any government do?

-Skip