Pedro's Corner: Edward Snowden

Pedro de Cordoba, Jr.

The saying goes that when you look at life through the eyes of a child, that's when you truly live. While that may be true, I find that the opposite works just as well. These days people seem to forget that our elders know a thing or two. Born in the late 1920s, my dad has a wealth of life experience that gives him a unique perspective on the issues of the day. He always has a point of view, whether it's about religion or the gait of an overweight man walking down the street. It delights me to hear him express what's on his mind, as I never know what he'll say, but it will always be unfiltered and usually in the form of a joke.

After hearing a recent eloquent diatribe on some subject that currently escapes me, I said to him, "Dad, you need a blog to post these op-eds floating inside your brain." He said I should post them for him. So here's his very first post, where he takes on the subject of national secrecy, our right to privacy, and governmental accountability. Take it away Dad!

EDWARD SNOWDEN 

 I would like to view this matter from a position very high above, because it all seems so trivial.  The three agencies, (NSA, CIA, FBI) known to be secretive against each other, proceed on their comically bungling Kafkaesque course, SOMETIMES defending the nation against terrorists.  From their self-appointed, altitudinous perch, they rant against one who (as a likely mental exercise) punctured their giant sack of secrets, found them most unpalatable and cast them off to someone else.  In so doing, he PROVIDED THE TRANSPARENCY-IN-GOVERNMENT promised us by the current President.  No doubt Congress is scrambling to find a relevant infraction to apply.  Perhaps the three agencies are considering a water-boarding session or the correctly sized unmanned aircraft to wreak vengeance, beware collateral damage!  Could this be a case of A SYSTEM HAS TO FAIL IN ORDER TO IMPROVE? 

PdC