Heroes and Villains

Back when I first wrote about Edward Snowden, there was no way anyone could have foreseen what could or would happen in the revelations he gave journalists.

It wasn’t so simple to figure out how anything would happen or if it would after the first reports of his interview and the information he gave certain journalists.

Was he a flake, a traitor, a spy, a whistle-blower or disgruntled employee looking to embarrass his employer, the NSA? Why was he doing this?

Those questions were answered yesterday when the Pulitzer Committee awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize to the Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers for their fearless and extraordinary reporting of the entire story.

It shows that I (and many other people) were correct in calling it the biggest story of this decade. That Edward Snowden has actually opened a few eyes to facts that the government would rather not have us know.

Of course there are the villains of the story, too: the NSA and it’s leaders-who, when challenged or asked direct questions about the programs and methods described in the Guardian/Post articles.

Repeatedly they denied every single claim made by the information, and then embarrassed themselves when caught lying in sworn testimony before Congress.

Not content with lying in public, they denounced Snowden and called him every name in the book. The government brought charges of espionage against him, and when they failed to stick, just simple theft of government documents.

They revoked his passport to make sure he couldn’t run too far, but were outraged when Russia gave him reluctant asylum.

So now we know the truth-that whistle-blowers are not welcome in the United States and that if one dares to do so, the most you can expect is prosecution, not parades or parties.

But in the end, the truth comes out, no matter what levels of stupidity are demonstrated.

Congratulations to all the reporters and both papers for doing the job that nobody else dared to do.

It was a necessary public service-and true journalism at its’ excellent best.

Most of all: thank you again, Edward Snowden for having the incredible courage to do the unthinkable.

You have earned this prize as well, because you were the one who started the chain of events, and without you, this would never have happened.

As the saying goes: the rest of the story is history.