USA Today on Snowden's Russia asylum: Obama admin would have done the same thing

Without actually endorsing Russia's grant of asylum to American fugitive Edward Snowden, USA Today editorialized Friday that the U.S. should have expected it:

On Thursday, after a 39-day layover at the Moscow airport, Snowden accepted one-year asylum in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin rejected U.S. requests to send him home. This wasn't surprising; if a Russian carrying secrets showed up at Reagan National in Washington, the U.S. government wouldn't be in any big hurry to ship him back. Even so, Putin's embarrassing snub produced predictable if overheated calls on Capitol Hill for President Obama to restart the Cold War.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the administration was "disappointed that the Russian Federation would take this step despite our clear and lawful request."

@eScarry