As NewsBusters has been reporting, it’s been truly fascinating watching liberal media members attack National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
On CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, host Bob Schieffer used his mid-program commentary section to lambaste Snowden saying “he is no hero” and instead is “just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BOB SCHIEFFER: I like people who are willing to stand up to the government. As a reporter, it’s my job to do that from time to time. Some of the people I admire most are in the government. Men and women who led the civil rights movement - Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr - they are true heroes.
I’m not ready to put Edward Snowden in that category. For one thing, I don’t remember Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks running off and hiding in China. The people who led the civil rights movement were willing to break the law and suffer the consequences. That’s a little different than putting the nation’s security at risk and running away.
I know eleven people who died or lost a member of their family on 9/11. My younger daughter lived in Manhattan then. It was six hours before we knew she was safe. I’m not interested in going through that again.
I don’t know yet if the government has over-reached since 9/11 to reinforce our defenses, and we need to find out. What I do know, though, is that these procedures were put in place and are being overseen by officials we elected and we should hold them accountable.
I think what we have in Edward Snowden is just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us. I don’t know what he is beyond that, but he is no hero. If he has a valid point - and I’m not even sure he does - he would greatly help his cause by voluntarily coming home to face the consequences.
Would Schieffer be saying this if a Republican were in the White House spying on Americans and someone revealed it?
I highly doubt it.
Heck, Eric Lichtblau and James Risen of the New York Times received Pulitzer prizes in 2006 for revealing George W. Bush's domestic surveillance program, and that was nothing compared to what Obama is now doing.
As I often say, what a difference a "D" makes!
