Whither Snowden?

Here's the situation that Edward Snowden finds himself in, as of Saturday evening EST.

He is confined in the no-man's-land of the arrival section of a Moscow airport.   This area contains a hotel for passengers who are simply changing planes to go on to other countries, so they do not actually have to enter Russia.

Russia has claimed that, since he has not yet entered Russian territory, they have no jurisdiction.  They have said they would grant him asylum, but only on condition that he does not release any more documents that would cause a problem for the U. S.  He then withdrew his application for asylum in Russia.

The U. S. has revoked his passport, so he cannot leave the airport, or even enter Russian space, without some sort of official travel documents or asylum papers from another country.

Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua have all said they would grant him asylum, but none has said whether they would help him get there.  They might insist that he get there on his own and then apply for asylum.

So there must be some (in)tense negotiations going on behind the scenes.   Undoubtedly, the U. S. is playing a role in influencing other countries, which apparently is what caused Spain, Portugal, and Italy to deny the Bolivian president's plane permission to fly over their airspace on the way home from a meeting in Moscow (based on the suspicion that Snowden might be on the plane).

A hero to many, a traitor to others, it's not yet clear how history will judge Snowden and his supposed act of conscience.

Civil disobedience has a long and honored tradition in this country:   From our revolutionary forebears who won our independence from England in a full scale war, to Henry David Thoreau protesting poll taxes in 19th century New England, to the abolitionists, to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights demonstrations , to Daniel Ellsburg and the Pentagon Papers -- we would not be where we are today as a nation without them.

One can argue that our government's surveillance power over its citizens has gotten out of hand, and Snowden has certainly exposed the extent of that, as well as the degree to which we spy on even our allied governments.   They, in turn, do the same of us, if they can.

But doesn't one have to draw a line when it comes to exposing the secrets of national security operations that arguably has already made it more difficult to defend us from terrorists?

I don't pretend to know the answers, or even to have a clear opinion.   It could be a teachable moment in our collective civic education.   Unfortunately, our short attention spans and our media's desperate search for sensational news stories to fill the airtime are carrying it to the lowest common denominator.   As usual.

Ralph