Where did the meme come from that civil disobedience requires you to sit in jail afterwards?

[Summer Hathaway]

38. Facing the consequences of one's actions,

especially in pursuit of drawing attention to some injustice, is part-and-parcel of civil disobedience. Some are imprisoned as a result; others might not be - but they face that possibility, same as the next man.

Think about black men in the south during the civil rights era, who faced not only jail, but much worse at the hands of the white cops into whose hands they were delivered.

Their willingness to stand firm in their convictions was not a "meme" being bandied about on a message board. It was real life - brutal, violent, and often fatal.

You obviously want to turn Snowden's cowardice into some sort of well-thought-out heroism, as though he simply "planned ahead" better than the fools who stood their ground, and allowed themselves to be jailed as a result.

If you want to worship at the altar of Snowden, you are free to do so. But reducing the unbelievable sacrifices made by the many, who were "civilly disobedient" to the point of risking their lives, to being merely a 'meme' is despicable.