Snowden says he already won. I agree.

Raw Story (which is a great web site, BTW) has a story about Edward Snowden today. In it, Snowden says he's already won. And he is so right.

“For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already accomplished,” Snowden told the Post. “I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself.”

I find him consistently well-spoken and sensible. He is the perfect emissary for this mission, a man who can state clearly what he did, and why. The man always says the right thing.

And as for critics who question his loyalty to the US:

“There is no evidence at all for the claim that I have loyalties to Russia or China or any country other than the United States,” Snowden told the Post. “I have no relationship with the Russian government. I have not entered into any agreements with them. If I defected at all, I defected from the government to the public.”

He revealed the extent of the US surveillance apparatus because he's a good and brave American. It's that simple. One day he'll receive a major American award for this. He single-handedly turned the tide on U.S. surveillance. Now, that's something to be proud of. We will reap the benefits of Edward Snowden's bravery for many decades.