An Open Letter to the Media on the 'Irony' of Snowden's Request for Asylum in Venezuela and Ecuador

[DirkGently]

13. Everywhere he's been has been held out as "ironically" less "free" than the U.S.

The letter makes an excellent point.

First we heard that Hong Kong was identical to mainland China; therefore a human rights abuser; therefore an "ironic" place to which one might flee.

Then Russia. Oooh. Another "bad guy" country, old-school. How could there be better than here?

Now it's South America bashing, under the longstanding U.S. rubric that South American countries are full of evil leftists, whom the U.S. has beneficently fought against, albeit in the filthiest and most murderous ways, often on the side of brutal rightwing dictators, in order that banana companies might flourish.

It's disingenuous bullshit. What IS actually ironic is that the U.S. is becoming a place people flee FROM to avoid political persecution.

The smug assumption that anywhere but here is a less free and human-rights friendly environment floats glibly past the fact that this is no longer true for some people, and moreover, WHY is that?

So, no, it's not a contest as to which country is better. Go, USA. Still richer and thus safer than most, for many people. But the "irony" in the fact that someone would choose to leave here to go -- yes, ANYWHERE ELSE -- is not in favor of the U.S.