A good first step would be to listen to Edward Snowden along with other NSA whistleblowers (as well as those from other agencies) who know the truth about these programs instead of threatening them with prison terms and equating them with being "spies."
Instead of magnifying the vilification of Edward Snowden who happens, for better or worse, to have no option but to remain in a country of asylum, Obama ought to recognize that Snowden and earlier NSA and other government whistleblowers are the ones who possess the insights to help him climb out of this rabbit hole, fix the constitutional mess, and restore the rule of law. Edward Snowden should become the first witness called by a new Church Committee!
Ultimately, common sense tells us that restoring the rule of law will entail: 1) ending the "global war on terror"; 2) focusing on the bad guys, not the innocent. Stop adding hay to the haystack. Restoring due process that allows greater intrusiveness upon individuals' freedom only as the level of evidence and judicial certitude increases; 3) reducing governmental secrecy to a necessary minimum by making it temporary instead of perpetual; 4) increasing independent oversight of and whistleblower protection in all intelligence agencies and national security contractors; 5) reducing governmental corruption and "revolving door" conflicts of interest that Eisenhower was first to warn about and which were supposed to be banned by Office of Government Ethics rules; and 6) repealing the two provisions of the 1917 Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. 793 (d) and (e), that are being used to prosecute disclosures to the press, i.e., the copying and retaining of classified information as well as potentially prosecuting news reporters and organizations directly.
We hope to get this message across this week in Washington DC at the Press Club at 1 pm on Tuesday, March 25, and also via delivery of 100,000 "Roots Action" signed petitions to Secretary of State John Kerry and Attorney General Eric Holder at the Departments of State and Justice (further details here).
We may also read aloud some of the 100,000 signers' comments outside the White House. The moment again seems reminiscent of the days after the popularity of Lyndon Johnson's war presidency dropped and so many American citizens were forced to shout messages over the fence that he needed to change course.
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