He’s a 30-year-old white male from North Carolina, a former NSA employee and a current fugitive, a man running from one of the world’s most feared intelligence agencies.
The government has called him a traitor and has charged him with the theft of government property as well as charges of willful communication of government intelligence to unauthorized persons. Yet, Edward Snowden is viewed in a very different light with the American people. The Atlantic recently reported a Quinnipiac University poll with results stating, “55-34 percent believe Snowden a whistle blower, not a traitor.”
While the government searches for the famed Snowden, many Americans stand by and watch (albeit with less enthusiasm as the riveting criminal trials happening in the U.S.) as more and more is uncovered about the fugitive. Many questions have surfaced about his past and who he really is.What were his intentions? Was he selling information to the Chinese?What conversations happened between him and the Russian government?
And yet, there is one question that really stands out — how will the American people view Snowden in the coming years? When he is finally brought back to the U.S., either by force or on his own terms, will the American people decide to drag him in front of a carnivorous tribunal and convict him of treason? Will the U.S. lock him up in a small cell, the windows of which hold the view of a small Cuban bay? Or will we see him as a whistle blower — a hero, an underdog, a champion of transparency in a world of opacity?
Snowden’s history is out there for the nation and for the world to see, but what America decides to do with that is the true mystery. The nation is asking the wrong questions about the Snowden case. What the U.S. needs to be pondering is what we will do when the situation comes to the inevitable climax.
Furthermore, we need to reflect on the large chasm between the perspective of the American people and the perspective of those in Washington. It seems, once again, that the tiny flock of people working on The Hill is bludgeoning its people with the idea that Snowden is a Hun; a traitor, a thief and a dishonest person. And yet, the polls that gauge public opinion drastically differ.
It seems that the people have a much more merciful heart when it comes to this particular case. Does it stem from the known fact the Obama administration has held fast in its opaque government, one that is less transparent than the Patriot Act champions of the Bush administration?
While many unanswered questions of the Snowden case lazily drift through the stagnant political atmosphere, one thing is for sure; it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. We will inevitably have to address the big question: Who is Edward Snowden? A whistleblower and harbinger of truth? Or a conniving traitor worthy of nothing more than a 5-foot by 5-foot cell in a cold dark corner of the earth?
Tell Dominic what you think about Edward Snowden at dvalente@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @photojvalente
