I propose that we award the medal of freedom to Edward Snowden

Everyday, it's like peeling an onion, layer after layer, bringing tears to our eyes and now justified fears that our privacy has been invaded by a government that's out of control. In this alphabet soup of scandals (IRS, DEA, HHS, OMB, etc.) I'm talking about the NSA (National Security Agency) which we now learn has violated privacy laws thousands of times. They probably read this blog post before you!

The NSA was granted broad new powers in 2008. Who controlled congress in 2008? Oh, that's right--the Democrats under Nancy Pelosi. This broad expansion of the NSA's power was not done by George Bush, but rather by Obama and his congress. We now learn that the DEA is receiving intelligence from the NSA on ordinary American citizens which they use for prosecution of "supposed" crimes. We have a government that sits in Washington DC and sees you and me as potential criminals, ripe for prosecution. How scary it that?

Edward Snowden, now a fugitive,  exiled in Russia

I don't know what you think, but right now, I'm ready to award the medal of freedom to whistle-blower, Edward Snowden who is languishing in Russia and may never step foot on U.S. soil again. Many pundits on the right have labelled him a traitor, but I'm not one of them. I don't march in lockstep with the right or the left. I'm thankful that Snowden dumped all this "secret" information and started this national conversation on security and privacy. We wouldn't be talking about this had it not been for Edward Snowden. We'd still be believing the lies of the James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence (what an oxymoron!), who perjured himself under oath when he was asked by Sen. Ron Wyden if the NSA collected any data at all on hundreds of millions of Americans? His answer: "No Sir." (Watch the video yourself at the end of this post).

Here's what I would do about Edward Snowden, along with giving him the medal of freedom. I would exonerate him of all charges, reinstate his passport, provide free passage back to the U.S. along with a government-paid-for-tax-free home and land (with no property taxes) to compensate him for all that he has been through, and well as to reward his efforts on behalf of our freedom and liberty.

In my next post, I have some questions that I'd like answered regarding the NSA and their invasion of our privacy in the name of fighting the evil of terrorism (which DOES exist and needs to be taken more seriously than our President takes it. Instead of Islam being the enemy, Obama sees you, me, Republicans, conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, etc. as the enemy). For now, I leave you with this quote from Xavior Simon, "I for one have come to fear abuses of power by the government more than I do terrorism." Amen.

                                 35 sec. video of James Clapper lying under oath