Federal judge rules that Edward Snowden is a US and World hero

As an engineer I am predispositioned to either having facts to support my statements OR to acknowledge up front that a statement I'm about to make doesn't have factual data to support it (i.e. SWAG/opinion, whatever you want to call it). Because of this it's difficult for me to call someone a hero.  It's a big term that I do not give out lightly and it's generally very subjective and light on facts.  For example, if someone gets a medal during war for heroism, how much of it was politics, how much was fog of war, how much was just the government needing to give out some medals in order to bolster support for its warmongering (AKA medal based propaganda).

But in the case of Snowden, all the data is right out there to see.  There is only 1 version of the story no matter if you are talking to government officials or if you are talking to Snowden.  The different sides make different judgement calls on the matter as to right vs wrong but nobody disputes the facts of the situation.  Because of this it is not difficult to look at the facts coldly and make an intelligent call based on these facts.

It's as simple as this:

• those who believe that government should be allowed to run wild and to violate the constitution left and right will say that Snowden is a traitor.  These folks apparently don't believe that rule of law makes any difference and that the duty of the citizen is unquestioning compliance.  They probably think that shooting drone-missiles into a crowd in order to perform a sanctioned hit on one man is OK.  I call these people traitors.  They generally have some skin in the game and they plan to profit in some way by the illegal actions.  These people have been calling for the capture, torture and eventual murder of Snowden.
• those who don't know history, the law, or their arse from a hole in the ground.  These are the sheeple.  They have not figured out the real danger they are in.  They see a man in front of them waving them through a gate and they do as they are asked even if they can't tell the difference between a shepherd and a butcher.  If they really understood what was going on they would be upset and appalled but they can't pull away from facebook long enough to figure things out.  These people are mixed on the matter but for all the wrong reasons.  They generally let the media do their thinking for them.
• those who do know the law of the land (i.e. the constitution), have put in time researching history, understand how money works, and call foul when they see government abuses.  These are patriots and real citizens.  They know that Snowden risked all and lost much.  They call him a patriot, whistleblower, and hero.

When Snowden first escaped the clutches of the evil government, he was a wanted man.  The US government publicly stated that it wanted him captured.  Privately you can bet good money that they thought long and hard how they could kill him without having all of their skeletons exposed in the process.  The US government was so serious about this capture that it threatened ALL global governments with retaliation should they decide to aid and abet Mr. Snowden.  Fortunately, Snowden was able to stay out of their clutches by hiding out in a nuclear capable country that could not be easily intimidated (Russia).

Now here's the lesson for us all.  Had Snowden turned himself in he would have either:

• been put in a gulag outside of US territory (gitmo, etc.) for indefinite detention as an enemy of the state.  No charges need be filed.  No lawyers need be involved.  Simple as pie, the problem goes away.
• have died mysteriously in his cell like this guy did.
• been shot in the back of the head while being interviewed by the FBI like this guy was.
• received a very speedy trial in a secret NSA FISA court.  I have no links because, well, there are none available on FISA court results.  The results would have been, well, secret.  Secret in the name of national security.  Secret in the name of protecting you, don't you know.  Secret just because they could.  

In every case, turning himself in would have been like chickens surrendering to the fox: it's the last time you ever see that chicken again alive. But Snowden outfoxed the faux government and kept it at bay with implied threats of releasing a doomsday barrage of truth which of course corrupt government would wither under.  So Snowden has now survived long enough to get the herd to come to his rescue (remember the water buffalos and the lions?  The trick is to stay alive long enough for help to arrive).

Today a federal judge ruled the NSA spying unconstitutional.  While there is always the possibility that some higher court will be politically motivated to overturn this ruling, as it now stands this judge has effectively called Snowden a hero and a patriot for blowing the whistle on the NSA.  After all, the Obama DHS's own motto is "if you see something, say something".  Snowden did just that and at great personal risk.  Of course Obama later excluded government corruption from the watch list because it is just too easy a target I guess.  Since Snowden did his leak before Obama outlawed tattling on government corruption, I guess Snowden is grandfathered in as a law abiding hero, right?

I can't say enough good things about what Snowden did or how he did it.  He treated the information very carefully while still letting Americans, both those awake and those still in dreamland, know about the corruption of US spy services.  Way to go Snowden and THANK YOU.  Perhaps soon we the people will soon send the strong message to our corrupt government "hands off of Snowden or else".  You should get a hero's welcome back to your country, the USA.  I'll buy the first round of ticker tape.