So young Snowden sat, his laptop on his knee,
And wondered whether we'd ever be free.
Siphoning data from all the four corners,
and thinking that someone should finally warn us.

"Enough is enough" he suddenly thought,
This data is private and cannot be sought.
People trust Facebook and Google and Bing,
This theft of our data's a terrible thing.

So with care and with stealth and with one simple click,
He saved a few docs on a USB stick.
Then not wishing to stay in the US for long,
He boarded a plane and he fled to Hong Kong.

So what was it that the docs actually said?
That caused such outrage when finally read?
All was revealed as the docs were not sold;
But given quite freely to Mister Greenwald.

There's a slideshow whose content is fairly apparent,
Though the design is described as frankly abhorrent.
It states there's a program that's weirdly named PRISM,
The revealing of which has caused a huge schism.

The Spooks and the Feds, to name but a few,
(Well okay, the Brits with their GCHQ)
Have been hoovering up data without our consent,
With complete disregard for the Fourth Amendment.

This data collection has spread like a cancer,
With 'Terrorism' given as the only answer,
And with each passing day there are more secrets spoken,
Till we know that the trust in our leaders is broken.

Obama just sits in his big oval room,
His statements on PRISM just seem out of tune.
And over in Blighty there's William Hague
Whose speeches in Whitehall are equally vague.

Yet Snowden continues to leak all his leaks,
While politicos continue to speak all their speaks,
And meanwhile the people who think it unjust,
Can't help but believe that they've lost all their trust.

So Snowden is charged with, wait for it... spying,
The irony lost on those authorising,
The orders to have the poor man extradited.
Though many feel that he ought to be knighted

And so Snowden flees to Moscow then where?
To South of the border is probably fair.
Not to Europe, SA or over to Oz,
But that's strange don't you think? Simply because...

I remember when these countries held their heads high,
And decreed to the world, in days long gone by,
That China and Russia and Cuba were all,
Countries where freedom meant nothing at all.

I remember the day that the Berlin wall fell,
I remember Mandela and Orwell as well,
I've read JFK and his peaceful intent,
Heard speeches by Churchill and all that he meant.

And now as I sit, my laptop on my knee
I shed a small tear for what may never be.
For we've lost it all to those with the spies,
And what can I do, but dry my moist eyes?

But wait just a minute, can nothing be done?
Do we give up this battle before it is won?
Is there something that every man, women and child,
Could do to prevent the State from running wild?

Well you have the power come election day,
It's your opportunity to have a say.
Send a message to those that have all the powers,
That FROM THIS DAY FORTH THE INTERNET'S OURS.