LAST WEEK, I posted an article on my Facebook page that discusses how The New York Times and The Guardian called for Edward Snowden’s clemency in an editorial. Although Snowden technically broke the law by revealing the NSA’s classified documents, the editorial boards argued that he provided an important service to the American people by exposing the illegal actions of the NSA. In essence, the ends justified the means and therefore Obama should pardon Snowden instead of punishing him as a traitor.
I felt compelled to post that article on Facebook because I have always believed Snowden was a patriot in every sense of the word. When I speak about dissent, when I speak about exposing the truth, most people think it’s easy for me because of who I am…but it’s never been easy.
The mainstream media’s first reaction to a whistleblower, or anyone who brings to light something mainstream reporters don’t know, is to marginalize that person. Whether reporters feel their jobs are threatened or it crushes their pride that someone had intel they were completely unaware of (and it’s their job to know)—whatever the reason—they completely shrug you off like you’re a nut (often in my case) or a traitor (like in Edward Snowden’s case).
Many of my fans commented on my Facebook post, stating that the call for clemency is a trap. That Obama is in on this—that he is trying to bait Snowden to come back home so he can be arrested. Well, that’s a classic ops move, and that would make for one hell of a conspiracy theory. Could you imagine, all those people at The New York Times and The Guardian would have to be in on it! Well, I will tell you this: it could be possible. Our own president was murdered in plain sight and all evidence was ignored or disappeared, and many witnesses “mysteriously” died, so yeah, I believe anything is possible and I was proud to see so many fans question the media to that extent.
BUT—what I would like to believe is that the reporters at The New York Times and The Guardian have finally opened their eyes. I would like to believe that this is the first step in getting the media back to being the watchdog, back to being the 4th branch of government that looks underneath the rug and then breaks through the floorboards to get to whatever is in the basement. That they are finally putting their pride and jealousy aside and welcoming Snowden as a truth teller, a man with a conscience, a man who puts the love of his country before his own personal safety. Edward Snowden is what every investigative journalist should aspire to be and maybe, just maybe, they are inspired to become more like him.
At the end of the day, Snowden’s conscience couldn’t live with what the NSA is doing, and that’s a big deal. The NSA and other branches of the government are clearly brainwashing and threatening employees to believe that if they speak out against something that’s obviously wrong then they’re traitors, they’ll be put in jail, and the government will destroy everything they love. That’s the definition of bullying and Snowden stood up to the biggest bully of them all—and if this call for clemency is really sincere, then Snowden is definitely winning against all odds.
Remember: just because it isn’t in the news anymore, that doesn’t mean it stopped. Something like wiretapping every citizen is still going on and excuse me but didn’t Nixon get impeached for Watergate!? How can a president be fired for something the NSA is doing every day, and continues to do!?
Clemency aside, make a pact to support Edward Snowden. There’s a judge on our side who determined the NSA unconstitutional, and then there’s another judge who is against us. So it’s a battle. Remember Syria? Call, harass annoy until these representatives face the truth: when something’s wrong, it’s wrong. When something’s illegal, it’s illegal. When something’s unconstitutional—you guessed it—it’s unconstitutional.
The NSA doesn’t get any special privileges. Edward Snowden is my personal hero, and Bradley Manning and Julian Assange are right up there with him.
Peace,
Gov. Jesse Ventura
#StayVigilant
Off the Grid 
Can you please explain to me how it is that when the head of the NSA went in front of Congress and was asked “is the NSA spying on the American people ” and the answer came back “the NSA is not spying on the American people “… How is it that guy did not end up in jail?
Sent from my iPhone
Don’t just teach your children to read…
Teach them to question what they read.
Teach them to question everything.”
I am in favor of the job that Snowden did for the American people to me personally he IS a patriot and someone looking out for the best interest of his people
I am more inclined to believe that the newspapers are simply being played. If Mr. Snowden is the smart man I believe he is, he will not return to United States until some form of amnesty is guaranteed in writing first.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Mr. Snowdens oath of secrecy was a business contract. His oath of loyalty was to the American people,which I believe he upheld with honor.
The NSA lied to Congress, under oath, when asked directly if they were spying on the American people. Where is Mr. Snowden has done nothing but expose the truth.
Mr. Snowden embarrassed the Obama administration and the NSA, By exposing them. And act that neither will take very lightly.
Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one. Benjamin Franklin Mr. Snowden is indeed a true American hero
Sent from my iPhone
“But I’ll tell you what they don’t want. They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they’re getting funked by a system that threw them overboard 30 funking years ago.
You know what they want? Obedient workers people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly chittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And, now, they’re coming for your Social Security. They want your funking retirement money. They want it back, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all, sooner or later, because they own this funking place. It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club.” george carlin
Great post! There are government agencies that protect whistle blowers. Did Snowden go through the proper channels to disclose this information and found no support? If that was the case, then yes, what he did was heroic. Making a choice to expose corruption is never easy because those in charge do not want to relinquish their power, as the Frank Serpico case taught us many moons ago. Thanks for sharing!
I can’t wait to start watching “Off the Grid”. I’m going to spread the show like wildfire, Now to Mr. Snowden. The man is nothing more than a Patriot. The NSA LIED…OBAMA LIED and this isn’t all about Obama. They all are in this together, that includes: Obama, Republicans, NSA, Congress etc]. In case you didn’t know…..our Government LIES a lot. Unfortunately we have a lot of Americans who don’t care.
They listen to mainstream media 24/7 and never reads. Mainstream media had a field day with Edward Snowden. Snowden has embarrasses them all and exposed their lies. I’m glad that there are still a few writers in the mainstream media with a backbone. Unfortunately the people with the backbone aren’t on TV. Luckily we have more people paying attention to the internet more than ever. Instead of just visiting Twitter and Facebook, people should focus on issues that really matter.
The best thing Snowden can do is stay far away from the US. They want him dead. The older generation calls him a traitor, but they don’t care. Some people simply don’t care about the spying. Well that’s not our problem and we all deserve privacy and freedom. Thanks to the NSA spying, I’m focusing on surfing the internet differently. There’s probably no way around the telephone “metadata” issue unless more secure online VoIP services become available. I bet our Government will “force” those companies to cough up their secure information as well. Spying on other countries are one thing, but spying on your own citizens is simply low. It’s funny how the NSA, CIA,FBI etc can’t stop 9/11 or the Boston Massacre, but wants harmless citizens to share their data.
I LOVE MY COUNTRY with a passion, not my Government period. We need newer faces in the Government. The same groups [dems\repubs] will lead down a hole that we will never get out of. This is why the 2014 and 2016 elections will be crucial years for the history of our beloved country. I’m not even going to get started on the obvious Police State we are living in America. I can’t wait for this show to start. Maybe more blind Americans will open their eye.
-Faceless Anon-
I’m not one that listens to mainstream media. I was abroad in Europe and witnessed on air cover ups and news stories change on the air, like the Roswell Cover up. I agree with you. Once off the Grid airs I too will do what I can to spread it like “Greek fire” … an ancient “military tactic” used to spread a fire. To this day they do not know to recreate it, but the premise was, that when you tried to put it out with water …it only spread more! Jesse Ventura is the guy we need in the white house to clean it up NAVY SEAL style … meaning kick those out that there to prevent real democracy from occurring!
Glad you have come out on this subject as you have, I think Mr. Snowden had one humongous pair of Balls to have done what he did!
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Hey Jesse, i love your comment about Snowden. I have read most of your books, and i believe you to also be a hero. We are lucky to still have men with the courage to stand up and tell others when they believe they are being lied to, often in the face of ridicule. Please continue on with the great work that you do, it doesn’t go unappreciated.
Appreciative Fan
Joseph McGuckin
george carlin was a head of time
Rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. You see all, sooner or later. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government does not give a funk about them! The government doesn’t care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare or your safety. It simply does not give a funk about you! It’s interested in its own power. That’s the only thing. Keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.this is exactly how the political game is played and in this instance OVER 3000 AMERICANS died on AMERICAN soil while the Bush Administration sat on its hands and watched what the administration KNEW was going to happen!!! This then opened the door for the “Patriot Act” to be passed and stripping AMERICANs again of more CIVIL RIGHTS!!!! If the American public doesn’t wake up and take back our power, we will soon have no CIVIL LIBERTIES!!!! The sad part is, this will be our own fault!”
so mark suckabird cares about his own privacy, but not everyone else’s. Just another reason why i dont use facebook for long long time. be careful with that website… delete your account and stay away Facebook makes clear in its Terms of Service that you are surrendering ownership rights to the intellectual property (i.e., your updates and photos) that you upload to your little area of the world’s largest social network.When you are putting information on social networking sites don’t put real combinations of information, because it can be used against you.”the US Government pays people to mine Facebook. Why? Things like “connections between people” are not laid out entirely in official documents. Mapping out the connections between people is something that Facebook can provide (and does provide) to the US Government. Don’t be so smug.Facebook is a catalyst for identity theft. When Facebook has gone the way of MySpace, everyone will wonder what was so important about FB and probably regret all the personal information that has been released, resold & used by others. FB is pure stupidity. Facebook is fast becoming the typical anti-consumer corporation that is now so prevalent it has become a cliche. They want to control you, your choices and your personal and private information — and they don’t even want you to be aware they could be putting you, your career or your family at risk… Big Brother paranoia? Not in our time of identity theft and now that corporations have been given the full legal rights o”people.”has the largest facial recognition database in the world. They also keep EVERYTHING on the user. They even keep records on what your mouse hovers over on the screen, and for how long
President Ventura, or at least I hope to address you in that prefix in the future. I am truly a supporter of you and many other “American Heroes” including Edward Snowden. I find it very insulting that the government of this country, has turned into the biggest embarrassment ever of world history. I know that nothing will change over night, as it took longer than a night to get to where we are, but what must change as fast as the people can be successful in attempting is “STOP THE FOREIGN BULLYING OF OTHER COUNTRIES WITH OUR MILITARY” This country has no right fighting in them countries dated back before you served heroically during VietNam. The unlawful actions being performed every day against we the people must cease. The old days children was taught to turn to the police in times of emergency, now the children are being taught just the opposite. I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do claim that this country has fallen from grace, and it is us older peoples fault. So please help us get it whooped back into shape, and please make an interactive website for finding the proper procedures to follow when a civilian wants to raise an issue of concern to their representatives. I have continually tried to speak with them and get the run around every time. You said it, “we are the boss” and dammit this boss wants to speak with his paid employees! I thank you Governor Ventura, for being an American. Respectfully yours Troy Allen Riddle/ Baytown, Texas