snowden and putin

[Philly]

[exploited]

[John Galt]

arguably illegal, arguably legal

[Philly]

[Indy]

[Philly]

[Indy]

Two people already have bro. Move on.

[Philly]

[exploited]

But that is where I find your opinion to be less intelligent. You are insisting that he be punished despite the fact that he did a tremendous and undeniably valuable service for the American people. What matters here is the end result - does he do time, or doesn't he? To me, arguing that because he broke the law means he deserves to be punished is an incredibly tenuous position. Lots of people break the law for very good reasons - if a guy pulls a gun on me while I'm sitting at a red light, I shouldn't be punished for driving through a red or speeding. The context and specific circumstances matter, far more than the "principle" of it.

The best and most intelligent position is to respect the principle by finding him guilty of his crimes, and then pardoning each and every conviction. This sends the message that people who leak documents will always be judged upon the circumstances of the leak, the context, rather than martyred for the principle of the matter. This is in line with how whistle-blowers need to be treated in general - it is an extremely grey area, one that deserves very specific consideration based upon context and circumstance.

[Philly]