> That alone marks him as a hell of a lot more mature than the numerous folks one reads of in the papers who speak despite not being authorised to, who take it upon themselves to release classified information, or who are careless with information which may cause damage to the security of our nation.

You know, there is a reason people went to the press -- it's because when they followed the official route they were ignored, threatened and had the full force of the US government turned against them. I suggest you read up on people like William Binney and Thomas Drake, before you so lightly dismiss people who have lost their careers and more, fighting for your freedom.

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/22/333741495/before-snowden-the-w...

> Binney says he and two other NSA colleagues who also quit tried sounding the alarm with congressional committees. But because they did not have documents to prove their charges, nobody believed them. Snowden, he says, did not repeat that mistake.

> "He recognized right away, it was very clear to me, that if he wanted anybody to believe him, he'd have to take a lot of documentation with him — which is what he did," Binney says.