Edward Snowden NSA Scandal: Why We Need a Whistleblower Protection Program

http://libertycrier.com/government/edward-snowden-nsa-scandal-why-we-need-a-whistleblower-protection-program/?utm_source=The+Liberty+Crier&utm_campaign=138bd3944a-The_Liberty_Crier_Daily_News_6_12_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_600843dec4-138bd3944a-284758921

Edward Snowden, the hero responsible for the biggest intelligence leak in NSA history, is the latest whistleblower to reveal what a threat the U.S.government is to individual liberty and the rule of law. His stand against an empire with unprecedented powers of surveillance and secrecy also highlights the invaluable role whistleblowers have played and will continue to play in exposing government abuse and how to encourage this and other acts of civil disobedience.

In several days of interviews with The Guardian, Snowden explained why he decided to quit his comfortable job and life in Hawaii to knowingly make himself the number one target of the U.S. government. “I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building,” Snowden confessed. Even if he is made to suffer, it is worth it if the “federation of secret law” is revealed and exposed.