> Snowden did enormous damage to US and allies with his indiscriminate distribution of classified information

Sure, in the same way that the police do to organised white-collar criminals when they arrest them and put them in prison.

I am not the parent poster, but Snowden revealed far more information than was necessary to blow the whistle on domestic spying at the NSA.

Just take a look at the list of revelations

https://www.lawfareblog.com/snowden-revelations

Most of the revelations are not at all about domestic spying and instead revealed details about doing what the NSA is chartered to do: international spying.

You can consider it immoral that the NSA monitored the communications of Angela Merkel or the italian ministry of defense, but that isn't whistle-blowing. It's the reason that the NSA exists.

> You can consider it immoral that the NSA monitored the communications of Angela Merkel or the italian ministry of defense, but that isn't whistle-blowing. It's the reason that the NSA exists.

It is definitely whisteblowing to reveal that a country has been secretely wiretapping the communications of its (supposed) allies – one can blow the whistle on things which are "legal" especially when their legality has been surreptitiously pushed through the back door.

And Lincoln did a lot of damages to the slave-based economy when he championed abolition.

I almost went full Godwin point on this.

The US and its allies did that damage to themselves by doing the things detailed in Snowden's leaks. Snowden is not a traitor because he swore an oath to protect and defend the constitution, and he did just that by leaking. If anyone is a traitor, it's the people who gave and followed unconstitutional orders.

> - Snowden did enormous damage to US and allies with his indiscriminate distribution of classified information

That would be something like "telling the police about your abusive husband hurts your family". Yes, it did hurt intelligence agencies and their beneficiaries. That is not the same as "the US". The victims of the indiscriminate surveillance were largely American and are much more plentiful than the perpetrators.

He was extremely careful in the docs he permitted to be released. Anyone telling you otherwise is lying to you.

He also should have had some help from the news agency in them asking him for his opinion and using some of their own judgment about which parts of it to publishin case he accidentally shared anything in such a large group of documents. That probably also happened.

I think it's telling that multiple administrations have failed to come forward and promise him a fair trial, let alone any sort of deal, commutation, or pardon.

Everybody is guaranteed a fair trial. Why should anybody pardon somebody who hasn't been sentenced?

All I'm hearing is, "Reporting the crime did enormous damage to the criminals." It’s the world’s smallest violin, and it’s playing just for you.

I opened your link and saw that bio about the author:

"Fred Fleitz served in 2018 as a Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump and Chief of Staff to National Security Adviser John Bolton."

That surely seems like a very objective person.

No government is my ally.

Glad some people get it. Governments are just big institutions. And monopolies at that. Ones with the power to kill and imprison.