"If this be treason, make the most of it."

"Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the first had his Cromwell, and George the Third -- may profit from their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." Patrick Henry, Speech in the House of Burgesses, May 29, 1765, regarding the Stamp Act

His name is Edward Snowden. He's a 29 year old high school dropout from Hawaii and he's an intelligence analyst formerly employed at both the CIA and NSA. He's also currently on the run, believed to be hiding somewhere in Hong Kong, from the government that he just blew the whistle on, revealing that they have been tapping not only into the phone records of millions of their citizens but also tracking their online searches, videos, and private records. No, this isn't the Chinese government - he's on the run from the U.S., who wants to prosecute him for his "reckless disclosures."

Fortunately for Snowden, the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong excludes political offenses. Unfortunately for Snowden, that may not be enough to protect him. The extradition treaty states that 'Hong Kong can refuse to transfer a suspected criminal to the United States if giving up the person “implicates” the “defense, foreign affairs or essential public interest or policy” of the People’s Republic of China.' If the DOJ asks for Snowden, more than likely Hong Kong will give them Snowden.

Snowden doesn't think he's safe. In an interview filmed roughly three weeks ago when he officially became a whistleblower, he says that he expects to be a fugitive for the rest of his life, "however long that may be." He knows what he did made him a target. It's interesting, then, that he's a self-declared whistleblower - he revealed himself and saved the administration the effort of conducting an investigation (and since we know how competent the administration is when investigating important issues, he might have been able to go, I don't know, the rest of his life before they turned up anything on him.)

So why do it? Some people are saying he's an attention seeker, hoping for his 15 minutes of fame. Some, including himself, say he did it because it was the right thing to do. Which leads to the obvious question: was it the right thing to do? Was it treason or was it heroic?

It was treason.

He's a hero.

Here's what he told: the NSA has been collected the phone records of millions of Verizon customers each day and plugging them into a database. They do not have the content of the phone conversations, but are keeping track to see if anyone is in communication with terror suspects outside of the U.S. This has been going on for 7 years. It's since been revealed that this database extends to AT&T, Sprint, and credit-card transactions. At the same time, information about the program PRISM came out. PRISM is an internet scouring program that allows the government to track internet usage through nine different corporations, including Facebook, Skype, Apple, and Google. I have not been in touch with anyone outside the U.S., there's nothing wrong with my taxes, and I'm not planning on starting a conservative organization anytime soon. Just thought I'd save some time for the faceless federal agent who's watching me type this write now so they don't have to track me down anywhere else. 

The reaction to this revelations has been passionate on both sides. For the public, it has led to understandable outrage and an unprecedented level of government mockery. For the feds, it's led to....an actual statement addressing the issue, rather than denying knowledge of it beforehand. That's notable - BO did not find out about this on the news and he's defending it. In a press conference last week, BO said:

• "The programs are secret in the sense that they are classified. They are not secret, in that every member of Congress has been briefed." 

There's the BO lie we all knew was coming! Many members of Congress have already come forward and said that they knew nothing about the programs.

• "They may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might engage in terrorism."

Like the Boston Bombers.

• "I welcome this debate and I think it's healthy for our democracy. I think it's a sign of maturity, because probably five years ago, six years ago, we might not have been having this debate."

It's easy for him to say he welcomes debate now, once it's out in the open. 5 or 6 years ago we weren't having this debate....because we didn't know this debate needed to be had.

The 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Back in 1787, this amendment was necessary because one of the primary reasons the Revolution was fought was because of the writs of assistance, which allowed British regulars to enter and search the houses of colonists without search warrants. That's not happening today (yet) but the amendment wasn't met to read literally - it's about privacy. The 4th amendment protects the privacy of the people from the prying eyes of the government. PRISM and these NSA phone databases are a major invasion of that privacy.

The feds are saying that this invasion of privacy is necessary for our protection and that Snowden has put us all at risk now that the terrorists know that they can be tracked via phone and internet (side note: Osama Bin Laden didn't use a phone or internet because he knew he could be tracked.) The Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, says that this has damaged our intelligence gathering capabilities. 

In 1759, Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." 

Which brings me back my original statement. Oran's Dictionary of the Law defines treason as "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." By that definition, Snowden committed treason. He revealed information to the public that the government wanted hidden. He confirmed what the terrorists already knew - we use modern day technology to track them. 

You know who else committed treason? George Washington. Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. Patrick Henry. Each and every Forefather of this country acted against the Mother Country and did what they believed was right, knowingly putting their lives in danger to fight for the rights they believed in. That's what Edward Snowden did. He committed treason to protect the 4th Amendment of the Constitution for the American people. 

Which begs the real question: what has happened to this country that it's become treason to defend the Constitution? 

God bless America