I don't agree with Edward Snowden but I agree with what he did.

It was Edward Snowden's leaks that made me aware of the full extent of NSA surveillance. I considered it my duty to engage my legislative representatives about this and I considered Edward Snowden as having done me a public service for revealing just how much information was being collected and how. With New Republic journalist     +Sean Wilentz  deep dig into Snowden's motivations I have learned that he isn't against government spying per se, he is a libertarian that is against government. And you know what? I don't care. He is still my civic engagement hero. Read the story and see if he is still your hero.You can download the article as a PDF for easier reading.

For an overview listen to Wilenzt talk to Brooke Gladstone about his story on On The Media

For insight into Julian Assange listen to his interview with Cornell West on Smiley and West

I would also highly, highly recommend the movie We Steal Secrets for insight into how extensive the data collection processes are of the U.S. government. Here's a 10 minute review that hits on the salient points.