If Republicans were so worried about illegal surveillance, wouldn't they be pushing to pardon Snowden? Republicans are going crazy over a FISA memo that might show a Trump associate was surveilled for politically motivated, illegal reasons. I wrote about all that on Steemit here. Meanwhile, Snowden still sits in Russia, unable to return to the United States, and most Republicans don't seem worried about that at all. If Republicans (and any politicians for that matter) are really this worried about illegal surveillance, why aren't they pardoning Snowden and bringing him back? Where were they back then?
To me, that makes this all smell more like partisan politics rather than breaking news we can rely upon. With this in mind, I'd read the memo with a skeptical eye, double checking everything and not taking anything on face value. Of course, I'd approach the Democrats' counter-memo the same way if it were released.
If they were really this concerned about illegal surveillance, they'd work on pardoning Snowden, wouldn't they?
I'm not the first person to point out hypocrisy connected to the memo. In fact, Rand Paul talked about it recently when the FISA reform was approved. Paul tweeted last week: "Irony alert: House Intel members who shoved fake reform of FISA, a day later reveal bombshell evidence that FISA was abused by Obama officials." Paul has said that if FISA was abused under the Obama administration, then no administration should have the power to surveil American citizens without a warrant.
Of course, I doubt the Democrats would be any different. It's not like they've been trying to pardon Snowden either.
What do you think? Is this comparison fair?
Photo courtesy of Cory Doctorow on Flickr Creative Commons. No changes made. License here.
They're so hypocritical!
To me, this looks like one thing: they all secretly agree. They agree that Snowden should be punished. They all want him to suffer. They are the ones in power and it is their wrongdoing that his kind of transparency threatens.
These politicians don't care about the Constitution. You mean the same Constitution that requires Congress to declare war before entering into conflicts? You mean the same Constitution the prohibits searches without a warrant? That requires charges to be brought before property is seized? That Constitution?
No, they don't care that Snowden made the ethical choice to expose yet another breach of the Constitution by the federal government. They don't care that he sacrificed a six figure government job and a peaceful life to expose their treason. They want to disobey the Constitution without consequence, and people like Snowden are standing in their way.
What pains me most is not when these politicians are corrupt and hypocritical, but more-so when my neighbor is. The people who think Snowden should be in a cage or worse. It really gets me because it feels like they are saying "YOU, Derek, should not be allowed to know what your government is doing. Just trust them implicitly. And if anyone tries to tell you against their wishes, I think we should hurt them physically."
Well, no sir. The government works for me. It is paid for by my tax dollars. Bought by the blood of Americans past. They may not alter the deal as they see fit. We obey the Constitution, and if it is wrong then we amend the Constitution, but we do not simple ignore it. And if they are breaking the Constitution then it is the patriotic duty of every freedom loving American to oppose it.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
@justderek for President 2020!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Gee. Reading above. I guess watching all those Snowden documentaries really got me riled up.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit