American Politicians Are Corrupt and Our Justice System is Broken

If I pulled half the crap politicians do, I’d be in jail

Photo by fikry anshor on Unsplash

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.”
―Marcus Tullius Cicero

I remember when news broke that the American government had been spying on its citizens. A little known NSA contractor named Edward Snowden turned over piles of classified documents to reporters from The Guardian and Washington Post about how the United States Government — and nations abroad — spied on their citizens.

The initial reactions to Snowden’s revelations were split. According to Pew Research, in the days after the revelations, nearly half of Americans (49%) believed the release of classified information served the public interest, while 44% thought it harmed it. More than half (54%), however, thought the government should pursue criminal charges against Snowden. Politicians across the aisle condemned Snowden and called him a “traitor,” seeking to charge him under the Espionage Act of 1917.

Snowden fled to Russia, where he’s lived since. In his time abroad, he’s released a memoir, appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and founded a non-profit dedicated to protecting journalists from government surveillance. Some ten years since Snowden’s disclosures, public opposition to U.S. government surveillance has grown. Enough so that in the 2020 case, the United States v. Moalin, a federal court declared the mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden illegal and potentially unconstitutional.

Regardless of how you feel about Snowden — traitor, hero, whistleblower — there’s a simple fact we ignore. United States politicians wanted him to go to jail for activities and behavior they actively engage in.

Rules for thee, but none for me

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