The verbal sparring between the Obama administration and Edward Snowden has started up again upon the occasion of the runaway NSA leaker’s first U.S. television interview, in which he assured the world he is “trained as a spy,” not just some snot-nosed hacker. Snowden also defended his decision to leave the country, blaming the government for revoking his passport and not offering a fair trial. Secretary of State John Kerry wants Snowden to know that he, too, can land some time on TV.
“The bottom line is this is a man who has betrayed his country, who is sitting in Russia, an authoritarian country where he has taken refuge,” Kerry said on CBS This Morning. “He should man up and come back to the United States. If he has a complaint about what’s wrong with American surveillance, come back here and stand in our system of justice and make his case.”
“A patriot would not run away,” Kerry added. “If he cares so much about America and he believes in America, he should trust the American system of justice.” And what’s more American than manning up? The most just and American way for this all to end, really, would be a celebrity boxing match between Snowden and Joe the Plumber. Kerry can referee.
