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to define in specific terms than torture, at least in regard to waterboarding and other matters. The failure
to prosecute that when it came out, mostly by leaks, was itself a violation of law. The Geneva Convention
requires us to investigate and prosecute a credible instance of torture. To refuse to do that is to
decriminalize torture. And that’s what Obama has done; he has decriminalized torture. I don’t see how
any other president—whether he accepts torture or doesn’t accept torture—can really use the Department
of Justice to prosecute it after two terms of Obama refusing to prosecute it. Some people want to
decriminalize marijuana; he has decriminalized torture. Decriminalizing torture is not good in my
opinion. I say that as a former Marine infantry officer who would not have ordered or condoned torture; I
feel confident of that. And when I read of Marines who have done it, I feel bad about that.
We come back now to where we are in terms of this surveillance. The president actually began
his speech on January 17, 2014, by situating government surveillance very thoroughly in our revered
American tradition, surprisingly, by referring to Paul Revere as one of the Sons of Liberty who conducted
surveillance on the British. It seems odd that he should reference that. Revere was watching the British to
warn the people of Lexington and Concord that the British were on their way—“One if by land, two if by
sea.” The government of the time, 1775, was under the control of the British. This was before the
Declaration of Independence. Paul Revere, then, was surveilling the government—the British Empire—of
which we were a part. So there seems to be a little difference there from surveillance by the government.
It’s much easier to think of Edward Snowden himself as the Paul Revere of today.
Paul Revere was at that time involved in a number of revolutionary associations. There’s been a
recent article pointing out that if you use just the metadata collection—which shows who you’re
communicating with and who you’re associating with—it shows that Paul Revere would have been at the
very center of an analysis of associations. It shows a big spider web and there’s Paul Revere at the very
center. If the British Empire had been doing this kind of network analysis at the time—which in some
sense they undoubtedly were—if they had had a tiny fraction of the surveillance capability that the NSA
has right now, is there any chance that the American colonies could have separated from the Empire?
That the American War of Independence could have gotten underway? Paul Revere would have been
hanged along with everybody he dealt with. Fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence were, in
the early 1770s, loyal subjects of George III, and traitors subject to be hanged due to their actions on July
4
, 1776. Of the fifty-six, five were hanged. Nine died fighting for the Revolution. So, fourteen of the fifty-
six gave their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
Now, Edward Snowden, like Chelsea Manning before him, got my attention. As Chelsea put it,
“
I’m ready to go to prison for life or even be executed.” And she later faced execution, although the
prosecution said they would not ask for it. The capital charge under which she was tried included a
possible death sentence, and the judge could have given it to her whether the prosecution asked for it or
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