President Obama Stays Silent in Wake of Edward Snowden's Revelations
Better to stay silent and be thought a fool ...
Soon after sensitive national security documents were made public last week, President Barack Obama weighed in, delivering a forceful defense of the surveillance policies described in news stories about the leak.
But since Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source of those documents Sunday, the president has gone silent on the subject.
He has good reason to stay out of the fray: speaking even generally about an ongoing investigation and a potential prosecution is a dangerous gambit for a president, one that could interfere with the Justice Department's work while leaving him open to criticism for politicizing a sensitive security issue.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
..."delivering a forceful defense of the surveillance policies described in news stories about the leak"
I found it whiny and defensive.