The Dramatic Tragic Existential Angst Of Edward Snowden

Bring out the black eyeliner.

As Edward Snowden is trapped like Tom Hanks in an airport at the end of the universe and sending mash notes out to Ecuador (simple line: the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world) and…well, as many other countries with workable Wifi that he can think of, it’s worth pointing out the interesting navel-gazing teen-agey side of Snowden. This is clearly an adventure for Snowden; a choose-your-adventure first person puzzle game where he’s the main character and he hopes we all notice his noble sacrifice. In case you don’t notice, he’ll mention it over and over again.

Death awaits around every corner! In his note to Ecuador:

No matter how many more days my life contains, I remain dedicated to the fight for justice in this unequal world. If any of those days ahead realise a contribution to the common good, the world will have the principles of Ecuador to thank.

In this video interview with Glenn Greenwald directed by Laura Poitras:

Greenwald: ”Have you given thought to what it is that the US government’s response to your conduct is in terms of what they might say about you, how they might try to depict you, what they might try to do to you?”

Snowden: ”Yeah, I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Traids. Any of their agents or assets. We’ve got a CIA station just up the road and the consulate here in Hong Kong and I’m sure they’re going to be very busy for the next week. And that’s a fear I’ll live under for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be.”

“You can’t come forward against the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies and be completely free from risk because they’re such powerful adversaries. No one can meaningfully oppose them. If they want to get you, they’ll get you in time. But at the same time you have to make a determination about what it is that’s important to you. And if living unfreely but comfortably is something you’re willing to accept, and I think it many of us are it’s the human nature; you can get up everyday, go to work, you can collect your large paycheck for relatively little work against the public interest, and go to sleep at night after watching your shows.”

As @CrossPatch said on Twitter:

 

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