You Heard It First Here

At my age it's okay to brag.  So I will.

Once again this blog got the beat on everybody else.  I'm referring to the matter of Edward Snowden, the arrogant young man who took it upon himself to decide what are the appropriate defense practices for this nation.  As I pointed out in a posting on June 11,  he thereby stole our right to have our elected officials decide such matters, using the advice of experts.

Aye, there's the rub!  We can't trust our elected officials and the experts.  At least that's the major premise of Snowden and his paranoid ilk.  (Love that word "ilk"!)   We can, however, trust him?  Really?  A 29-year-old nobody who has no track record, no education, no nothing?

Gosh, I'd rather trust the judgment of someone like Zoe Lofgren, Democratic member of the House from Santa Clara County, California.  I've known Zoe for thirty years.  They don't make humans any better than Zoe.  She's very intelligent, very compassionate, and a lawyer who has been caring about human rights and civil rights since before Snowden was born.  On top of that, she's actually done some good in the world.

Sure, Zoe is not in charge of the feds surveillance program, but she does typify a number of people in government, ones we can trust.  The government is not a collection of spooky, vague, faceless outer space aliens, power mad and out to get us. WE are the government.  Those folks in D.C. and its outposts are our friends, neighbors, cousins, and  -  in the case of one very conscientious government accountant  -  my kid brother.

So they are not the villains Snowden and his fellow "conspiracy" woinks predicate.  They love this country and their personal rights and liberties just as much as the rest of us do.

Since my posting on June 11 pointing out that Snowden is an arrogant jerk, others have begun to speak up.  It took them longer to stick their necks out and say that the would-be emperor Snowden wears no clothes, but they are younger than I am and thus more cautious.   We elders not only get to brag; we get to be courageous and outspoken.  After all, what can anyone do to us that time isn't already doing?

So now the "smart" guys are tardily finding their good sense and their courage and are looking askance at Snowden.  Lawrence O'Donnell, Andrew Sullivan, Thomas Friedman, and David Simon, among others  Who is David Simon, you ask?  Creator of "The Wire".  That makes him a very savvy guy indeed.  The pack of them have stopped baying after the media bunch which instantly became a Snowden fan club.

Two further notes. First, O'Donnell this week pointed out on his "Last Word" TV show that USA Today publicized the "new revelation" of the surveillance program SIX YEARS AGO.  I told you it was an old story.  May 11, 2007, is the date of the USA Today front page story.  But I remember even earlier ones.

Second item of note:  Like "ilk", the word "askance" is also quite cool, n'est pas?"

What is not cool?  Edward Snowden and those who sail with him.

P.S.  A day or two after I wrote this, Bill Keller of the NY Times also changed his position of open-mouthed horror regarding NSA surveillance.  He accepts what Tom Friedman says:  if we don't prevent another attack on the scale  of 9/11, we will lose all of our civil liberties in an eye blink.  I made that point a week before Friedman.  We old gals are fast on our feet.  Or at least fast on our keyboards.