How Edward Snowden Is Like Thomas Jefferson – Clip of The Day

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How Thomas Jefferson was in the same boat as Edward Snowden and what he did about it.

Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Transcript – “Thomas Jefferson was Vice President of the United States of America in 1798.  When John Adams put his signature on the illegal monstrosity that was the Alien and Sedition Acts, what did Jefferson do?  Did he ask for a redress of grievance to John Adams?  Did he appeal to the inspector general: Dude, you can’t enforce this?   What did he do?  Jefferson initiated and engaged in what some people call a seditious campaign to try and stop the implementation of the Alien and Sedition Acts in his own home state of Virginia.”  Check out today’s transcript for the rest…

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

Mike:  The point about Snowden and about what he did and you saying there could have been other avenues, you’re right in the abstract.  Of course there could have been other avenues.  Instead of going to Glenn Greenwald, maybe he could have set up a secret meeting with Bob Woodward of All the President’s Men fame.  Woodward and Bernstein broke the story about Watergate and the Nixon White House.  Maybe he could have sought out Bob Woodward.  Maybe he didn’t look hard enough in the NSA for someone to blow the whistle to.  Maybe he wasn’t in pursuit of that.  Maybe he really was acting in a destructive manner.  I don’t know the man and I cannot answer in a foolproof manner that query.

I can say this, there have been times and there will be times in the history of any country or of any organized government that is organized around a written Constitution or a written Articles of Confederation or a written compact, there’s always going to be instances where someone is going to think that very injurious and perverted things are happening to the compact and one party is not upholding them.  History shows us that even the most devout and virtuous of men will react to that and not react by saying: Well, we ought to go to the proper authorities and rat these people out.

Eric, I’m going to give you the most prime example I can give you.  Thomas Jefferson was Vice President of the United States of America, vice president in 1798.  When John Adams put his signature on the illegal monstrosity that was the Alien and Sedition Acts, what did Jefferson do?  Did he ask for a redress of grievance to John Adams?  Did he appeal to the inspector general: Dude, you can’t enforce this?  Jefferson was vice president.  He was bound by oath of office to support his president or to defend the Constitution.  What did he do?  Jefferson initiated and engaged in what some people call a seditious campaign to try and stop the implementation of the Alien and Sedition Acts in his own home state of Virginia.

If you listen to my docudramedy What Lincoln Killed: Episode I and when I tell this story, Jefferson acknowledges it.  He knows he’s in violation of the law.  He’s in violation of the compact.  Yet there is future president, current vice president, Thomas Jefferson, and at the same time James Madison is a seated member of Congress who is also participating in this.  They believe that injury is to become people living under the Constitution, that it is being violated, and it is their duty to not obey that law and to seek a redress in the form of what we call today nullification and interposition.  Jefferson did what Snowden did in spades, except he didn’t leave the country; he just went to Virginia.  He was supposed to be in New York helping Adams run the Adams administration.  That’s how I would respond in a historical manner to that.

End Mike Church Show Transcript

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