Today, September 16, 2016, the docudrama “Snowden” by Oliver Stone premiered in the U.S.

For the sapient and conscientious sector of American society there was never a doubt that he did what he did to protect Americans and leaders was well as peoples throughout the world from wrongdoing by our government by the NSA, whose director, James Clapper,  lied to our Congress.

For those vaguely acquainted with the real background of Snowden’s reason to take the steps to expose the wrongdoing by the government and.  like Daniel Ellsberg who was  another American hero, became a whistleblower, this film further humanizes the noble man for his sacrifices.

As Attorney General Eric Holder declared publicly, Edward Snowden “performed a public service.”

Of course there are, and always be, those who ignorantly and recklessly make hyperbolic declarations bereft of any rationale and humaneness who have made such egregious statements as suggesting that Edward Snowden should be tried and sentenced to death.

These irresponsible declarations indicate a sign of the times which are characterized by a rapidly increasing rate of decadence of honesty,  honor, and ethics by those in the limelight who use grotesquely cheap shots inflammatorily and hypocritically to mask their perversely self-serving agendas based on greed, hate, and fear mongering, often to serve as well, to mask their own wrongdoing.

As just a very few most recent example of such hysterically hyperbolic vituperations, one may mention elements such as Donald Trump who literally declared that Edward Snowden should be executed,  former  CIA director Mikel Morrell who endorsed Clinton and called for the killing of Iranians and Russians in Syria  (see InfoWars – August 9. 2-16) ,  and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel who was excoriated by the Secretary General of the United Nations for having had the shameless “chutzpah” to play the victim role and accuse the Palestinians in Israel-invaded and occupied territories in violation of international law, as being bent on “ethnic cleansing” of Jews in said occupied territories by stating in a video released last week that  “the Palestinian leadership demands a Palestinian state with one precondition, no Jews. There is a phrase for that, it is called ethnic cleansing.”(see the Jerusalem Post (09/15/2016).

These tabloid hate messages uttered by heads of state, by former directors government agencies, by presidential candidates, have no place in a civilized society and their effect on our youth and on the mentally disturbed,  constitutes a threat to our security and to the foundations of our eroding democracy.

There is no question that Edward Snowden should be pardoned by President Obama, or at least have a plea bargaining arrangement offered to him which would allow this courageous and principled whistle-blower who had no protections to exercise his conscience mandated whistle blowing without leaving the country, to come home to the country and to people he loves and pay a fine coupled perhaps to a lenient sentence of community work for his sacrifice of having been forced to break a law for redeeming greater moral good which has benefitted our society and our reputation in the world.