[save_ferris]

Blowing the whistle completely upended his life. Anyone in his shoes would've made the same decision to leave because being tried under the Espionage Act would've yielded a guaranteed life sentence. People have a right to flee tyranny, wherever it is.

[cramexam]

Snowden does not flee the tyranny of Russia, who would have certainly pursued poisoning him if the roles had been reversed.

It looks as though Russia and possibly China have a documented history of targeting westerners with remote energy weapons. This is tyranny. USA doesn't poison nor assassinate its traitors, certainly not to the degree of our global counterparts -- much less do we not point microwave weapons at foreign diplomats. [1]

Snowden's defecting is a larger statement about US hegemony, one upon which China has freely capitalized. A justified fear is that true tyranny will result from a long term outcome favorable to China. Snowden's treason was a step in the right direction to dismantle US hegemony.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/diplomat-atta...

[slg]

Just like Chelsea Manning has and will continue to spend the rest of her life in prison?

[shadowgovt]

The US's treatment of Manning has sent the very clear signal that the next person who wants to leak classified documents had better have a speedboat to Vladivostok waiting for them.

[slg]

I obviously don't think Manning was treated well, but she is an clear example that Snowden wasn't facing "a guaranteed life sentence". Being overly hyperbolic does nothing but lessen the perceived severity of a punishment that would already appear extreme if stated completely honestly.