Rep. John Lewis Compares Edward Snowden to Gandhi
On Friday, President Barack Obama made it perfectly clear that Edward Snowden is no patriot in response to a question from MSNBC’s Chuck Todd. And you know what? As I’ve written before, Snowden is most definitely not a patriot. So yeah, I’m with Obama on this one all the way. And yes, Snowden should be brought to justice for his actions.
Ironically, however, was that in the very same week, Rep. John Lewis commended Snowden and compared the NSA leaker to Mahatma Gandhi. I have a lot of respect for Rep. Lewis; and him being my wife’s cousin aside, I think he’s wrong.
This from The Times Of India:
WASHINGTON: A senior lawmaker from President Barack Obama’s Democratic party has compared US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with Mahatma Gandhi, saying the controversial whistleblower was engaged in a “non-violent” act of “civil disobedience”.
John Lewis, one of America’s most revered civil rights leaders, says Snowden, who has come in for some harsh criticism from Obama Administration for leaking details of classified surveillance programmes, was continuing the tradition of civil disobedience.
“In keeping with the philosophy and the discipline of non-violence, in keeping with the teaching of Henry David Thoreau and people like Gandhi and others, if you believe something that is not right, something is unjust, and you are willing to defy customs, traditions, bad laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to defy those laws and be willing to pay the price,” Lewis told the Guardian newspaper.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia)
His comments came on the same day Obama cancelled his scheduled meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after Moscow granted temporary asylum to the 30-year-old former CIA contractor.
Lewis, the man whom Obama called the ‘conscience of the US Congress’, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to “a higher law” when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent ofNSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners.
73-year-old congressman and one of the last surviving lieutenants of Martin Luther King saidSnowden was “engaged in an act of civil disobedience”.
“That is what we did,” he added. “I got arrested 40 times during the sixties. Since I’ve been in Congress I’ve been arrested four times. Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it.” (source)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one, folks. Because from where I’m sitting I don’t see Snowden’s actions as an act of civil disobedience. Okay, so technically what he did is just that. However, I don’t view his actions in the same light as I would Ghandi; or even anything remotely analogous to anything Rep. Lewis pr Martin Luther King Jr. ever did in the interest of justice. But maybe I’m just a little bit biased because nothing Snowden has exposed works in the interest of ending systemic oppression, whether racial, economic, or otherwise. Until Snowden writes a letter from a Birmingham jail cell, pr walks around in Jesus garb while almost being killed for some basic human right, I’m not feeling what Rep. Lewis said. But hey, that’s just my opinion.
