The Washington Post's Editorial Board is perplexed. See, the paper's editors don't seem to understand how Edward Snowden could possibly prefer living in an 'unfree' country to being locked up for life in the freest country in the world.
The best solution for both Mr. Snowden and the Obama administration would be his surrender to U.S. authorities, followed by a plea negotiation. It’s hard to believe that the results would leave the 30-year-old contractor worse off than living in permanent exile in an unfree country. Sadly, the supposed friends of this naive hacker are likely advising him otherwise.
Yes,
Washington Post editors, it's difficult to believe that Snowden would be worse off surrendering to the U.S. government than living in such bastions of oppression and totalitarianism as Iceland, Norway and Ecuador.
Yes, it's difficult to believe that this naive man wouldn't be better off in his home country, a country which has canceled his passport and pressured foreign governments to deny his requests for asylum – a most basic and internationally-recognized human right.
Yes, it's difficult to believe that this poor soul wouldn't be better off returning to an administration that has waged the most aggressive war against whistleblowers in our nation's history.
Yes, it's difficult to believe that Snowden wouldn't be better off returning to the country that incarcerates more individuals than any other country in the world.
Because plea negotiation.
Facepalm.
Author's Note:
For those who didn't read the full WaPo editorial, its intention is to offer advice on how to stop Snowden's leaks, and suggests the U.S. could offer Snowden a plea deal as a way to solve this crisis.
And that Snowden would be an absolute fool to not take such a deal rather than live in an 'unfree' country, which I assume means a country without NFL cheerleaders and TMZ.