It's alright with me. The first leaked documents counted as "whistle blowing" but he stole over 20,000 of them, and the recent ones aren't about our privacy. They're just used to embarrass us with Brazil, or leak our entire spying budget to our enemies. That isn't whistle blowing, and again, he's got 20,000 of these things.

He's got the same problem as Bradley Manning: if your point is to reveal one or two cases of wrongdoing, leak the relevant information. Taking thousands of documents in bulk and handing them to Wikileaks or Glenn Greenwald is not a morally defensible tactic.

As far as his time in Russia, does any one else find it a little suspicious that for basically two months he's disappeared completely and is communicating (even with his family) through this "lawyer" with known ties to the Putin govt and past ties to the KGB? His "undisclosed location" could be prison cell for all we know.

It is almost certain FSB has all his files by now. Putin has almost certainly made sure only his men guard Snowden. And he is in 24/7 surveillance with the goal to gain access to how he protects the data if still with him. Or worse. The only way Snowden might have protected the data is to ensure he has no copies with him anymore, assuming he is not coerced into revealing anything. Remember, it also was Obama administration who revoked his passport trapping him to Sheremetyevo and forced Morales plane down to make the point that he cannot exit Russia.

I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do about it anyway. I don't like or approve of many things the US government does but you don't see them consulting me before they make decisions. Oh, right. I can vote once every 2-4 years or call an aide to my congresstransman.

I hope they catch the bastard.