Edward Snowden, Ron Paul kick off Students for Liberty conference

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) Youre going to make me blush, said Edward Snowden.

It was a little after 6 p.m. Friday, and the National Security Agency whistleblowers face and shoulders were gazing out, billboard-sized, at hundreds of cheering young libertarians. Snowden was beamed in to talk to the largest-ever International Students for Liberty conference, newly relocated to Washingtons largest hotel. Snowden, whose highest degree was a GED, was honored as an honorary alumnus of the 8-year-old organization. For 15 minutes he restated a case against the surveillance state that had no rebuttal in the room.

As they take the private records of all our lives, and they aggregate a dossier, how can that be said to be constitutional? asked Snowden. Why have we been funding and instituting this system of mass surveillance of people in our country and people around the world if theres no track record that shows it works?

As he honed in on his argument, Snowden tailored it to young libertarians most of them college students. I think many of the people in this room take a more pro-liberty pro-rights perspective than others in the U.S. political agreement, said Snowden. Theres an argument to be made that perfect enforcement of the law is not a good thing. In fact, its a very serious threat. law is a lot like medicine. When you have too much it can be fatal.

Alexander McCobin, the president of the Students for Liberty, posed a few friendly questions. First, did Snowden regret anything?

Im concerned that wed be in a better place if Id come forward sooner, said Snowden. He described a conversation hed had with Daniel Ellsberg, and how both of them came to regret how long it took them to produce their leaks. He like myself couldnt get over the psychological burden of fear of law-breaking, said Snowden.

In a small moment of irony, the Moscow-bound Snowden remembered how he had talked to colleagues at the NSA, and found them quietly agreeing with his worries, but unready to expose the agency. We had more on Americans than we had on Russians, for example, he said. Should we be focusing on ourselves more than we focus on our adversaries?

After Snowden wrapped, a slightly smaller audience remained in chairs to hear former Texas Congressman Ron Paul chat with Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano and Reason.com editor Nick Gillespie.

You know, my name was connected to Edward Snowden, said Paul. They really wanted to blackball him, to destroy him, so they said: He donated to the Ron Paul campaign!

Paul called Snowden a truth-teller, and asked why whistleblowers like him were demonized.

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Edward Snowden, Ron Paul kick off Students for Liberty conference