Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

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Here is John Nolte's latest column.

Yesterday evening, Katherine and I watched Snowden (2016) on Amazon Prime. Neither of us had seen it. I knew little about Edward Snowden or what he did until recently. Back when the events that led to his flight to Russia occurred, I assumed he hated his country and wanted to harm it by releasing sensitive information. Glenn Greenwald, a journalist I respect, made him out to be a hero rather than a traitor, so I decided it was time to look into it. The first step was watching this movie.

I loved the movie. The acting was terrific. (Joseph Gordon-Levitt played Snowden.) There were flashbacks, but unlike in Little Women, which Katherine and I watched recently, it was obvious when the time frame was shifting. The plot was easy to understand; the characters were reasonably well developed; and the dialogue was comprehensible.

The movie was directed by Oliver Stone, so you know there's a spin. Snowden comes across as a patriot of a libertarian bent who is disturbed by the machinations of the American Deep State. He believes that informing the world of what the United States is doing is the best way to rein in the intelligence agencies. (If democracy dies in darkness, as the Washington Post asserts, then democracy lives in the light.)

I could not help thinking of Donald Trump as I watched the movie. Nobody in the Deep State expected Trump to win the presidency in 2016. Horrified by his ascent to power, agents of the Deep State set about immediately to delegitimize his presidency and, if possible, remove him from office. Though his presidency was hobbled by the bogus Russian investigation, and though the attempt to remove him from office through impeachment failed, he was unable to keep his campaign promise to "drain the swamp." You could say that the Deep State eventually won the battle, because Trump was removed from office through massive electoral fraud. It's hard to believe that the Deep State had nothing to do with this fraud.

One wonders why Trump didn't pardon Snowden. I think it's because Trump held the same view I did. He instinctively despised Snowden as a traitor to his country. I wish someone had educated Trump about what Snowden did (and why he did it). Both Snowden and Trump despise the Deep State, and rightly so. Trump could have put a dagger into the heart of Deep State operatives and laid the groundwork for reform of the intelligence agencies by pardoning Snowden.

It's too late now—though, if Trump is re-elected in 2024, as I believe he will be if he runs, he can do right by Snowden by pardoning him. Wouldn't it be great if Trump awarded Snowden the Presidential Medal of Freedom? James Clapper and John Brennan (not to mention Hillary Clinton) would have apoplectic fits.

If you haven't seen this movie, you should do so. Here is the official trailer.

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Here is Kurt Schlichter's latest column.

To effect the quality of the day is no small achievement.

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