Good one Bob; I've got the same topic today. Sorry the one guy got you.

That's OK ZAB... they think they can force me off-site. Not gonna happen unless I wnat to go. 2036 parodies and moving forward towards 2050 next goal :)

simply stunning wordplay. I'm going to go ahead and count you in for over 100 WN OTRA'S. I'm still chuckling over "rest won't give extradition". Glad you repeated it, it was better the second time. Excellante.

How about "formal request to Ecuador"? I haven't seen such razor-sharp satire since the Dick van Dyke Show.

Looks like you've got a bunch of Democrat voters on here today.

I think there are parallels among the Snowden matter, the Dreyfus Affair, and civil disobedience. As far as I know, NSA surveillance is legal. Moreover, Snowden violated his oath to maintain secrets which were entrusted to him.

As it happens, the laws allowing mass surveillance violate the spirit, and probably the letter, of the Constitution, which protects against unwarranted search and at least implies the right to privacy. Over-classification of documents has long been problematic. So I'm glad that bad law and practices have been exposed, but unhappy that even bad laws can be broken -- with impunity.

At first, Snowden placed his stolen documents into the hands of journalists, presumably not only to expose bad behavior by the U.S. government, but also to give a stress test to the First Amendment by letting the press decide what is appropriate to print. But then he fled into the bellies of the beasts China and Russia, with whom he ingratiated himself by revealing U.S. hacking of Chinese university computers and eavesdropping on an English diplomat. That's not speaking truth to power; that's treason. Many journalists have gone to jail for such acts of disobedience to power as refusing to name sources. They were heroes because they willingly broke a law which was repugnant, and paid the price they expected to pay. Snowden is no hero. He is on the lam at a time when he should be buying a plane ticket to the U.S.

Snowden should issue a declaration affirming liberty as his motivating concern and offering himself up as a martyr. If he's afraid of getting water boarded at Gitmo, he shouldn't; even the U.S. government is not so stupid as to torture such a high-profile American citizen. Snowden, hunkering down in a stall at a Russian airport men's room, may be denying himself the Nobel Peace Prize.

Emile Zola was a hero for writing "J'accuse." There are eerie similarities to the Snowden case. The French military was the ruling elite, and they dodged oversight by claiming that overwhelming secrecy was required for the national interest. For publicly accusing the military of this, Zola was hounded out of the country.

Martin L. King sat in a Birmingham jail cell, as he expected, for participating in a march that was forbidden by racist law. There he wrote a letter, which played no small part in getting him the Nobel Peace Prize. Snowden has said, "I couldn't let the U.S. government get away with it." That statement, by itself, is merely arrogant. He should bare his neck and do some writing -- and title it "I Accuse!"

On another note: JAB has packed in the ridiculous numbers game, but you plow on, and quality be damned. Instead of regurgitating the news in rhyme, why don't you tickle us with parodies that are worthy of the genre? Whatever talent you may have -- for improvising, for creating outside the box -- could be stretched by relaxed waiting for inspiration. You call yourself a "production machine." That applies to River Rouge or Krupp, not to would-be Dorothy Parkers or Ogden Nashes.

Great analysis on all counts, Fungirl, and it's a real pleasure to find good writing, cool logic, common sense, and historical knowledge in one lucid comment. While parodies are the order of business here, I'm glad you used the essay form rather than squeeze your argument into the constraints of an OS. You made the right choice.