President Pandemic--Friend To America's Enemies

I hate Trump, but please, I implore you not to be a partisan hack. Snowden exposed egregious injustice committed by the US government and should be pardoned immediately.

He's in Russia currently, but if he ever steps foot in the USA then he would be tried in court.

What annoys me most about many liberals is how they instinctively by default are against Trump no matter what he says. I would say Trump is wrong 90% of the time, but when Trump is right, I give credit for it. This sort of behavior leads to some liberals even resuscitating vile war criminals like George W. Bush to own Trump, which is beyond dumb.

If you ask me, making the American public aware of what the NSA has been doing since the Patriot Act was passed is always a good thing. If Trump wants to pardon him, I say that's a good thing. Coincidentally, I have to wonder what the OP's opinion on Trump Administration leakers like Eric Ciaramella or Alexander Vindman is.

You should take a look at new doco "shadowgate"
Eric was just a diversion.

Typical TDS comment, seething anti-Trump rage drives the whole thought process.
A rational human being would examine the facts, but you're totally out to lunch.

I come from a line of Republicans who worked on private and government activities that were either top secret, or handled information that required a high level of security and protection. For much of it we were requred to take oaths, swearing to keep it secret. My late Brother Jim's work for NSA required a more formal agreement, as did my work as a custodian of top secret government documents and plans. Since my personal experiences tend to color my opinions (I am human) I chose one of the many informed essays by experts in the field, that are easily accessed on-line, in order to clear up questions about whether Snowden is a traitor. If you don't want to think of him as being a traitor because you are opposed to secret government programs, etc. that is your right. But, legally, he is one.

"Regarding Snowden, Inglis stated during the interview that Snowden's actions were too haphazard to be planned, implying that Snowden was not an official Russian agent. However, the fact that Snowden was not an agent in no way changes the fact that he intentionally committed espionage and treason, and can therefore be considered a traitor. The fact he asked for asylum in Russia makes him a defector.

Remember, Snowden has specifically stated that he applied for a job at Booz Allen so he would have better access to steal information. That is a clear statement of planning and intent to target and steal information. While it doesn't matter whom his intended customer was, the fact he chose to go to China to turn over information to a third party — when he had the opportunity to meet journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras anywhere else in the world — speaks to his intent.

Snowden's haphazard actions might demonstrate he wasn't an official Russian agent, but the impact was the same. The distinction doesn't matter. Now, anyone with minimal knowledge would have plotted a cleaner defection. But just because he was not good at it does not mean he is not a traitor and defector."

You can find the rest of Ira Winkler's (subject matter expert) essay in the April 5, 2017 issue of "The Hill," or at https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/homeland-security/327414-snowden-wasnt-a-russian-agent-but-a-traitor-just-the.