[simoncion]

Now that I have some coffee in me, I'm reminded that you should go read what was publicly said about Daniel Ellsberg both through official government channels, and just more generally in plausibly-deniable public statements. (Hell, go look at what they did (and threatened to do) to MLK.) [0]

Character assassination is a tool that FedGov does not hesitate to use against people who cause it big trouble. And yes, putting "spin" on facts absolutely is character assassination. Snowden was a poor student. MLK cheated on his wife. So what? These facts have nothing to do with the ills and rot that these folks were exposing and leading us away from.

[0] You should also read up on how the Ellsberg case made it impossible for anyone facing an Espionage Act charge for leaking classified information to argue that their disclosure was justified. This is one big reason why Snowden's departure from the country was a very, very smart move.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

I respect Ellsberg because he didn't flee the country.

[simoncion]

And Ellsberg very, very loudly and publicly proclaims that Snowden did exactly the right thing by leaving the country... that (unlike Ellsberg) Snowden would have been muzzled, thrown into a deep hole until his trial date, and not have received a fair trial.

1) It's not the 1970s anymore. Things have changed.

2) Ellsberg walked out on bail and was able to speak publicly about why he did what he did. Snowden would be denied bail and visitors because of "national security" concerns.

2) In a novel application of law, Ellsberg was not permitted to raise a "my disclosure was justified because of very significant interest" defense. [0]

3) Ellsberg only walked free because Nixon's agents were caught breaking into Ellsberg's psychologist's office to search for more character-assassination material, and the judge found this conduct to be unconscionable. Had Nixon NOT done this, #2 above would have ensured Ellsberg had no choice but to go to jail.

4) Given the existence of the NSA wiretap program that Snowden revealed, FedGov would not have the opportunity to make the same blunder Nixon did... because they have an extensive secret database (that "happens" to contain information about US citizens) that they can make secret searches against to find all sorts of blackmail material.

[0] This right here is the REALLY BIG thing. It's my understanding that Ellsberg was expecting to be able to at least argue that his actions were justified by very significant public interest. While having that right stripped away is pretty normal in this day and age, it absolutely was not back then.