Last week, Edward Snowden came out (or was let out) of his home in liberty-loving Russia to grant an interview to John Oliver, erstwhile Comedy Central Daily Show correspondent and current host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. A few seconds in, the ever-so-earnest Snowden began to realize that Oliver, much like his mentors Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, was actually less interested in conducting a traditional interview than in needling him.
Oliver proceeded to pepper Snowden with questions about how much he missed the taste of Hot Pockets, people from the state of Florida, and “Truck-nutz” (a novelty item that the more aristocratic members of American society deign to hang from the rear bumpers of their pickups). The interview then took a much more interesting turn, with Oliver gaining Snowden’s concession on the grave risk to national security he precipitated by handing over NSA documents to newspaper reporters.
As Snowden settled into the groove of the interview, his ever-present megalomania became a touch more pronounced, and at one point he contended that the overwhelmingly positive reception by Americans of his revelations felt like “vindication,” and that if one asks Americans to make “tough decisions,” “confront tough issues,” and think about “hard problems,” their level of engagement will “surprise.” At this point the plucky Oliver pounced, playing
for an increasingly crestfallen Snowden man-on-the-street interviews with “average” Americans, none of whom seemed to have any idea of his global “importance.”
Snowden, who seems to believe he bestrides the narrow world like a Colossus, does not need to worry about an Oliver, Flavius, or Murellus plucking his garlands of fame too soon. Or maybe he should. Last week, a 100-pound bust of Snowden, placed by a group of “artists” in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park (known for its Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, a lasting tribute to over 11,500 American prisoners of war who gave their lives during the War for Independence), was promptly covered and taken down. Later, a Snowden hologram was projected, but this, too, only lasted for 20 minutes.
And the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument? It remains standing, as it has done for over 100 years, a testament to the men and women who suffered to create the strong America Snowden so desperately faults for all the world’s ills.
