Edward Snowden: Some Brief Thoughts

We were privileged to attend the video-chat interview last night at Macky Auditorium of Edward Snowden (moderated by Ron Suskind) sponsored by the CU Boulder Distinguished Speakers Bureau. Regardless of your position on Snowden’s leak of classified documents to reveal the truth underlying what the American public was told by executive officials at organizations such as the NSA regarding the obtaining of electronic and telephonic communications from the general public, he is self-effacing, thoughtful, articulate, bright, and committed to an America that protects and advocates for the inalienable rights embedded in our constitutional. He strongly believes in the rule of law and the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. He rightly worries about continued abuses in the name of national security versus public interest. He remains intimately involved with issues related to freedom of the press both here and abroad while fully aware of the risks he took in 2013 to share information about which he strongly felt needed to be told. Kudos to CU Boulder for being the first US university to work out this interview arrangement. [DISCLAIMER: This perspective is mine alone and I apologize for any unintended misrepresentation of Mr. Snowden’s positions. Real-time video-chat interviews between Boulder and Moscow, while fascinating, have a ways to go to coordinate voice/sound and facial expressions, making some of the conversation difficult to decipher.]

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