Marcus -
The crux to me seems to be "what is the difference between a
whistleblower and a snitch" or "a whistleblower and a treasonous
bastard"? And how can we sort this out (especially when most people
align on one side of the tug-of-war pit or the other without much
thought)?
I think the terms you mention above only have meaning in the space of
a group and the power structures and rules or conventions prevailing
in the group.
Naturally these are terms related to social constructs...
At best it is a legal question. At worst it is a question of who has
or can gain influence to advocate the preferred term for a particular
situation to their particular constituency.
At it's best I think it is an "ethical" question. I think there are
three categories in this general domain... those who *know* they are
doing something wrong and do it anyway, those who know they are doing
the right thing for the right reasons, and those who *think* they are
doing something right but in fact are doing something quite wrong.
I think that legally one can have broken the letter of the law while
upholding the spirit of our presumed nature (constitution, founding
fathers, ladeeda). I see no room for doubt that both Manning and
Snowden broke the letter of the law... what is in question (for me) is
whether they acted out of pure motives and whether the results of their
actions support the greater good. I'm not sure how that plays out
legally... convictions with pardons, dropping of charges based on
"extenuating circumstances", sentences reduced to time served or waived?
Few care to think that dangerous or unjust events are an unavoidable
part of life.
Yes we do seem to like to ignore that as much as possible. I found
holding a security clearance to increase the likelihood that I would
find myself participating in dangerous and/or unjust activities. Not as
obviously as hoining the military would have, but probably yet more
inevitably.
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