Obama could give Edward Snowden immunity from procecution if he returned voluntarily, but Obama has to answer to the corporate overlords that rule America.
And if Obama gave Snowden immunity, Obama would suffer politically, finacially or maybe even wacked..."Never go against the family".
It's interesting and sad the similar ways in how the government and the Mafia function.
The most effective way to rule, even a so called democracy, is with fear.
They have to make an example of Edward Snowden, even if his intentions were patriotic, so that all citizens will be afraid to become whistleblowers when they see the government commiting crimes, which they do everyday.
We all know that the government is corrupt, but no one pays attention until a government employee like Snowden has actual proof of the specifics of the crimes.
The govenment has only to slap a CLASSIFIED sticker on their crimes or anything else they don't want the public to know, and it becomes illegal to publish the truth.
Snowden will be used by all goverments involved for thier own selfish purposes, until he is locked up, killed or kills himself from all the harassment.
The greatest enemy most people have, in all countries, is their own government (including elected, appointed and contracted people/corporations), even if they aren't aware of it.
Yes and what Edward is saying is that now is the time for good people/true patriots to act. Not in armed revolution, but in a revolution of the mind. No longer allowing themselves to be divided on issues of race, ethnicity, and religion,. when it comes to the absolute critical issues of the Constitution and the protection of human rights. People must instead focuss on recognizing the true corrrupt fascist elements of government that seek to utilize meaningless ancillary issues of race, color, creed, and political party, to create disaccord and infighting amongst American citizens, while they plot in secrecy on ways to destroy the Constitution.
You're right that Obama in many ways is an employee, but he will go against the NSA and the will of the military corporate industrial complex if he has very good reason, such as unanimous public outcry against the Patriot Act. But as you can see in this thread, that even after Edward Snowden gives up a 2 or $300,000 a year sinecure solely to put his life in jeopardy, and warn fellow Americans of the fate in store for them, there has been no unanimous outcry against the government because different people believe different things, and too many people are confused, apathetic, or merely too self-involved in meaningless trivialities too wake up and face their real enemy.
Fascists like to operate in darkness behind closed doors in secrecy. Edward destroyed that secrecy. Those politicians that have come into the light defending the NSA are the fascists, get them out of office and vote in people that truly represent your interests, and hold them accountable to repeal anti-constitutional legislation like the Patriot Act.
What Edward and President Obama are saying is that now is the time for good poeple to enter into the discussion, recognize their true enemy, understand their methodologies, and then speak clearly and uniformly by taking any and all lawful actions necessary to eradicate this enemy. Now is the time to do this because, as Edward said in the video, the only thing that is protecting the American Constitution is Obama's policy of liberal pro-constitutional interpretation of the Patriot Act. The law itself already allows for the facist takeover of America with the occurence of the right Hegelian triggering event (plotted disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks, etc.). However, after the tenure of Obama is over, a new administration can come in and use the Patriot Act to grab total power for the corporate/military complex, and then it will be too late to fight them.
Lastly, Edward is garnering alot of attention now, but he is far from alone in paying a price for his wiillingness to speak the truth regardless of the concequences. Every person who has chosen a righteous path, less traveled, knows the sacrifices inherent in such a decision. His price is higher because of the role he knowingly played in a corrupt system, but everyone eventually reaps what they sow for the decisions they make in their lives...good and bad.