Obama says that his prosecution of whistleblowers is necessary because whistleblowers have aided America’s enemies by informing them of secrets that will harm America. With precious few exceptions, the rest of this nation’s political leadership and media pundits join in this chorus of condemnation of whistleblowing and call for the metaphorical or literal heads of these dastardly whistleblowers.

I have previously written and spoken that the view expressed by some people to the NSA spying scandal that "I have nothing to hide" is a very serious mistake. If you allow the government to conduct ubiquitous, warrantless surveillance over the nation and the world, then you are allowing your rights and everyone else's rights to be destroyed to ever dissent and organize against authorities. I won't repeat that argument here but want to expand upon another aspect of this issue in this piece. It's called "Improbable Cause."

by Andy Zee | June 19, 2013

From remarks presented by at the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union on June 19, 2013.

Edward Snowden’s actions reveal not just the vast repressive technology, but also the power even a single person acting on their conscience can have to challenge and change the whole political landscape.

The following remarks were given by Ray McGovern (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) at the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union on June 19, 2013.

I lived in Germany for 5 years and I had all manner of talks with Germans, young and old, asking them: How could it possibly be? How could it possibly happen, in one of the most cultured, educated peoples in the Western World, how could you let happen what happened? Guess what they said? “We couldn’t say anything.” We face a situation like that now. Some of you know about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran minister who did try to do something about it [applause].

The following remarks were given by Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild at the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union on June 19, 2013.

Organizations such as the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU and others challenged the Bush warantless wire tapping program. In each case they were told they didn’t have standing and they couldn’t prove with certainty that they were being wire tapped. We know that that creates what’s called a chilling effect on free speech. If you’re aware of the possibility that your conversations and correspondences may be monitored it effects the way you communicate...

From the remarks Mike Daisey made at the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union June 19, 2013.

I’m here to say that, you know, I too was a fool, which is not a new thing for me. I’ve been a fool for a very long time. I imagined that Obama would not give back that power. But I’ll tell you honestly, standing here, that I would not have imagined in 2008 that he would be the architect of making it so much worse. Like I did not really understand or imagine that not only would he passively let those policies continue but that he would deepen them and extend them.

The following tutorial was presented by Dr. Dennis Loo at the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union on June 19, 2013.

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 Saying “I’ve nothing to hide” means giving up NOT only your right to privacy but even more importantly, giving up your right to dissent AND everybody else’s right to dissent – ever.

The following message was written by Tom Morello and read at the June 19 Emergency Forum at Cooper Union.

I have another name for the so called "whistleblowers" who are responsible for shining a bright and revealing light on the secret crimes of our government. I call 'em RIGHTEOUS HEROES.

Kevin Goszola prepared this message for the Emergency Forum at Cooper Union on June 19. While we were not able to share it at the event, we are making it available here.

Follow Kevin's work: @kgosztola.

On the afternoon of Sunday June 9th the internet was abuzz with news that the person who leaked information on the depths and true nature of the NSA spying apparatus had come forward. We learned it was Edward Snowden. It was one of those moments in history, and I think especially for people who have long been opposing and resisting the crimes of this government in the post 9/11 era, that was one of awe, hope, and fear.

On June 5, an article by Glenn Greenwald in the British newspaper the Guardian revealed that the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA) used the PATRIOT Act to obtain a secret warrant ordering Verizon—one of the nation's largest phone networks—to turn over data on every single call that went through its system.

That was the tip of an iceberg.