An interesting juxtaposition of developments trailing one of the biggest news stories of 2013 reinforces just how convoluted the whole situation is and likely will be for the foreseeable future:
Edward Snowden
First, to the surprise of few (and the dismay of more), the White House yesterday confirmed it is not considering amnesty for Edward Snowden, the former NSA contract worker who broke his employment oath and leaked thousands of classified documents revealing a mass surveillance program by the agency. Snowden, deemed a hero by some and a treasonist by others, remains exiled in Russia where he was granted political asylum earlier this year.
Next—in practically the mass media’s same collective breath—the AP reported that a Federal Judge has declared the NSA’s bulk phone data collection Unconstitutional, ruling that it likely violates citizens’ 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable search.
Referring to the program as “almost-Orwellian” Judge Richard Leon wrote “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analysing it without judicial approval.”
So, instant replay: our Executive Branch demands that Snowden face felony charges for his whistleblowing, whilst our Judiciary affirms the illegality of the government’s actions as exposed by Snowden.
Talk about branches branching.
But even an admittedly dizzying state of affairs offers some roundabout reassurance; for when the ‘Powers That Be’ seem dubious, it could be evidence that the “Separation of Powers” is alive, well and working.
Photo credit: Laura Poitras / Praxis Films [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
