Snowden a traitor, deserves death - letter by Vern Smalley

Reproduced for fair use and discussion purposes. Letter originally found here. My comments in bold.

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Mr. Smalley is a frequent contributor to the Chronicle's opinion page. I've commented on him before, most recently here and here. In fact, the second example is pretty much the same letter as what he wrote below.

Read on:

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Pardon Edward Snowden for leaking classified information? Are they kidding?

Snowden signed a legally binding oath invoking a prison sentence and heavy fine if he should ever reveal the information to which he was given access. That information was so highly classified that revealing it would place America in grave danger and cost lives. (Maybe, maybe not. But it is odd for a leftist to be defending the need for the US to maintain secrets, especially related to spying. Does anyone remember the criticism leveled at Bush when it was revealed there were secret prisons where suspected terrorists were being held? How outraged was the Left!)

Imagine Russia’s reaction when they learned we had their secrets. They’d immediately ask how did America get this information? Who among the Russians was the mole? Who should be tortured and executed? (Does Mr. Smalley know that Russia granted Snowden asylum? Russia is not looking to execute him, they welcomed him!) 

Thanks to Edward Snowden, people trying to help us very likely lost their lives, but we might never know who. Russia’s revealing whose life they took would confirm that our intelligence information was correct, and we can’t admit we had high level spies. (? Why can't we admit we have high level spies, when we just been forced to admit we are doing high level spying?)

Also thanks to Edward Snowden, our collections of enemy strengths and weaknesses, strategies and tactics have been made more difficult to acquire by being saturated with disinformation. That’s all intel data from all countries. (It's truly amazing how concerned is Mr. Smalley for the US cloak and dagger operations. I can't recall the last time someone on the Left defended the operations of US intelligence and military objectives.)

If we don’t deal harshly with Snowden, we will encourage every potential traitor who has access to our nation’s secrets to incompetently, on his own, decide what should be revealed. In my opinion, the biggest threat we have in this county are those who, like Edward Snowden and political extremists, live in an idealistic world convoluted by their own hyper-inflated egos.

Normally, I’m not in favor of the death penalty and would much rather have the worst of the worst rot in hi-max prisons for the rest of their lives. However, Snowden deserves to receive his penalty in full view of others who would betray our nation. Maybe they would rethink before becoming traitors. (Well, sir, you are either for or against the death penalty. So this means you are in favor, despite your protestations. We are therefore justified in examining all the people who might be deemed worthy of death by our justice system whom the Left routinely defends against the death penalty. All sorts of murderers, child rapists, and various other perpetrators of astonishing horrors are deemed worthy of living. But for Mr. Smalley, Snowden is worse than all of these, and deserves death. Hmm.)

By the way, the NSA is welcome to keep track of my phone calls any time it wants. I have nothing to hide. (Ok, so Mr. Smalley shouldn't mind the police traipsing through his house without a warrant for any and all reasons. He has nothing to hide. How about a camera outside his bedroom window? Well, he has nothing to hide. He should have no problem with random patdowns has he walks Bozeman streets. Because he has nothing to hide. And when he is arrested for a crime which he did not commit, I expect he will be agreeable to dispense with the trial by jury, because he has nothing to hide.

Mr. Smalley, our constitutional rights are to protect the innocent, not the guilty.)