THE REAL DANGER OF THE SNOWDEN SITUATION

8/4/13

Having been away for some time (See my already seminal CLARK GRISWOLD, MR. PEABODY, AND ME, 8/2/13), I haven’t had the chance to comment on national politics.   So, to get back in the groove, a comment on l’affaire Snowden is in order.

There are those who think Edward Snowden is a hero or better.  There are more who think that Edward Snowden is a scoundrel, a traitor, or worse.  But regardless of what one thinks of Mr. Snowden, one should remain alert to the real danger Edward Snowden presents.  This danger was best illustrated by the reaction of Senator John McCain to the Russians’ granting temporary asylum to Mr. Snowden.  Mr. McCain called Russia’s action

“…a disgrace and deliberate effort to embarrass the United States.”

He went on to call for

--an increase in U.S. advocacy for human rights and civil liberties in Russia (as if such things are our business),

--a build-up of European missile defense programs, and

--a further expansion of NATO to include Georgia.

Therein lies the real danger of the Snowden affair…it gives people like John McCain, who never saw a conflict he didn’t want us to get involved in and never missed an opportunity to press for military conflict, an excuse to rekindle the Cold War and thus reward the “defense” contractors who underwrite the lifelong sinecures such politicians call careers.

And why did the Russians grant asylum to Mr. Snowden?   Surely to stick it in our eye, but also because they could.   America isn’t what it was in the post-war hegemonic world, unchallenged economically, diplomatically, industrially, financially, and militarily, the last despite the fervent efforts of the likes of Mr. McCain to set up Potemkin threats like the hapless Soviet Union, which couldn’t produce a decent car or washing machine, let alone threaten world domination or destruction.  We are still the world’s preeminent power, but our trajectory is clearly a downward one.

Some would like to blame our diminished status on Barack Obama.   Mr. Obama is surely complicit, largely through his pursuit of roughly the same policies as his predecessor, especially on in foreign affairs.  But Mr. Obama, and even Mr. Bush, has little to do with it.   Our decline is a reflection of the tides of history.  And those tides have surely been exacerbated by some bone-headed, and self-absorbed, moves by our politicians and large swaths of our population.   For example, we have long forgotten how to delay gratification and save money, to educate ourselves in things that matter, and generally assume the responsibilities of citizens of a great world power.  Instead, we have chosen to indulge our desires for general silliness in vain attempts at filling the holes in our lives that result from the abandonment of duty, honor, and responsibility.   And, buying the notion peddled by the likes of Mr. McCain that patriotism equates with militarism, we have gotten involved militarily and otherwise in places in which we had no interests or rights to intervene, further sapping our rapidly depleting resources.   Sounds a lot like ancient Rome, but I digress.  

We can blame Obama.  We can blame Bush.  We can blame the government and the politicians.  But we should also blame ourselves; we elected these people because they flattered us, telling us how wonderful we were as we submerged ourselves into decadence and silliness.

And so Vladimir Putin can stick it to us while we helplessly flail for ways to retaliate.  We’d better get used to such treatment.