Yep. Like Manning before him. Expose corruption. Spend the rest of your life in prison. And have your message largely muted. Somehow, I think Snowden did it right.

You assume? It can't be that he is actually trying to do the right thing?

And Manning actually got more significant information released, but people don't have any real idea about the corruption he exposed. Once the government got physical control of Manning, they were pretty effective at suppressing his story.

Good points.

This^^^^^

And John Kiriakou is in prison (while none of the people responsible for US torture policy are). Bradley Manning is in prison now, and this trial was almost completely ignored by the media. Maybe Snowden is a pussy. I don't know. But I don't blame him for how he handled it in the age of the Patriot Act. Let's not…

If they tried him under the espionage act, the government could have controlled it. Also, the stated position of the Administration is that it can, on its own authority without any process, assassinate American citizens and has no obligation to explain it so long as they say, "national security."

Counterpoint: Bradley Manning's trial was almost completely ignored by the media. He exposed massive corruption, and most Americans have only a superficial understanding of what came out from him via Wikileaks. I don't know if Pussy Riot would have had as much impact if they had come to the US. I think you are…

I think America is "civilized." But I don't think that means America in 2014 is safe for "dissidents." And I don't believe that foreign "dissidents" who seek refuge in America exclusively come from uncivilized nations. I love America, personally. Which is why government abuse is so important to me. I want America…

Except the stated position of the Administration is that it can kill any person in the world, even an American citizen, on the President's authority alone, without any due process, and cannot be forced to explain it so long as they claim it is a matter of national security.

Daniel Ellsberg.

He is affecting change at home. And he was trapped in Russia while in transit through Russia.

He's a hero.

I read that, and I don't see the quote "the US government is worse than ISIS." Which is what I figured, having read a lot of Greenwald recently.

Well, respectively disagree with your world view. I think America is a citizen of the world, and does have obligations — legal and moral — regarding actions that impact people around the world. Not trying to persuade you, just stating my view. Just as a pragmatic matter, I think being a good world citizen is…

Bradley Manning is the point of reference for Snowden. Times have changed since Ellsberg.

Well, assassination is an option. The stated position of the White House is that the President can order the killing of anyone in the world, even an American citizen, without any due process and that he can keep the reasons a secret . . . so long as he says it was a matter of "national security." Kidnapping…

I can't access that link from where I'm at. Can you give me the quote? Did he actually say "the US government is worse than ISIS?"

He gets to tell us about it, so we can decide.

Manning is an American hero.