Eleven days ago, under the iconic image of the Lone Student of Tienanmen Square, I wrote the following:

We must try.

One person, under the right circumstances, can make a difference in this world. Morally flawed, therefore aware of the right thing to do; cowardly, and knowing the difference from courage, we want to survive-and to win though surely we will lose and die. One man, standing alone, can stop a column of tanks-when the common morality of the men in the tanks stops them. We must try.

That image and those words apply precisely to Edward Snowden today. And five years ago in a smaller world, but in my world, they applied to me.