I blogged about the disclosures yesterday and never mentioned Snowden's name. While I agree that what he did is likely illegal, that has not much bearing on mis-deeds of our government, which is the important issue. Who cares if Daniel Ellsberg’s whistle blowing was illegal?
Grown ups.
What most of us are bothered about is the way that the classification process is bandied about like a cheap rubber stamp with no justification or review, and worse how it's being used to cover up some pretty alarming (and probably illegal) things themselves.
Classification is a tool, you don't throw out the tool because it's misused sometimes (or even most of the time).
What specific illegal conduct did Ellsberg report? My understanding is that he leaked classified documents about the Vietnam War because he felt the public was being misled and had a right to know. That doesn't seem so different from the justification Snowden has given (assuming he's telling the truth on that).
How was Ellsberg "shielded"? He was put on trial, and Nixon famously sent the plumbers to dig up dirt on him.
If what you divulge is not illegal you have no protection.
What law are you referring to here?
I think that the point is that whistle blowers put themselves in harms way because they believe that it is important for the public to know specific information.