The 'conscience of the US Congress' on Snowden

[Ichingcarpenter]

John Lewis, the man Obama called the 'conscience of the US Congress',



Lewis, a 73-year-old congressman and the last surviving lieutenant of Martin Luther King, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to "a higher law" when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent of NSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners.

Asked in interview with the Guardian whether Snowden was engaged in an act of civil disobedience, Lewis nodded and replied: "In keeping with the philosophy and the discipline of non-violence, in keeping with the teaching of David Theroux and people like Gandhi and others, if you believe something that is not right, something is unjust, and you are willing to defy customs, traditions, bad laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to defy those laws and be willing to pay the price."

"That is what we did," he added. "I got arrested 40 times during the sixties. Since I've been in Congress I've been arrested four times. Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it."


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/07/john-lewis-civil-rights-edward-snowden

[99th_Monkey]

1. Lewis is a true patriot. Goon on him. eom

[starroute]

2. I assume Lewis was actually refering to Henry David Thoreau

The only David Theroux I can find is a libertarian and associated with the Cato Institute.

Bad mistake on The Guardian's part.

[Catherina]

3. He was lol. The Guardian corrected it a few minutes after publishing.

It reads Thoreau now.

[AverageJoe90]

4. I have a great amount of respect for Mr. Lewis, but....

I'm afraid he's still dead wrong on Snowden, though: the guy really was up to no good.

At least Bradley Manning didn't sell classified info to another country(or 2!), and faced up to what he did. Snowden? He fucking ran like the coward he is and is now hiding in Russia!

Manning, for all his faults, did truly believe that he was helping people by doing what he did. Snowden? No such luck! Snowden was a crook from the very beginning(not to mention that he's a Ron Paul fanatic, which set off a LOT of alarm bells in my mind). And I find it tragic that some here on DU have fallen for his schtick.

[Mojorabbit]

5. Do you have a link that Snowden sold info? Thanks nt

[AverageJoe90]

6. It's public knowledge for the most part, that he gave info to both China & Russia.

Okay, I admit "sold" might not have been the best adjective. But the shoe does still fit in a general sense.

[Mojorabbit]

10. I would call it fibbing.It is not public knowledge.

You can't just make stuff up. It is not right. Truly.

[AverageJoe90]

13. Not making anything up.

A lot of this stuff really was made public. No smoking guns, to be honest, but plenty of evidence pointing in that direction(looking back on it, I think I misspoke. My apologies), even though Snowden insists otherwise....
.

[TheKentuckian]

8. It is just something to say to justify the shittiness.

Allows for a bit of red baiting as well though it comes with the nonsensical position of declaring China as the enemy when we know they have been a "most favored" for well over a decade and that we borrow heavily from them.

[Life Long Dem]

9. Why did Snowden run?

[Mojorabbit]

11. Because he is not an idiot. nt

[Life Long Dem]

12. He didn't want to get caught?

[Octafish]

7. A man who's lived life on the side of the Angels would know better than anyone.

COINTELPRO went after Lewis, too.

[burnodo]

14. The Snowden haters haven't descended as yet

they're still trying to figure out how to dismiss Lewis