Yes, I do think Snowden is a traitor. He’s in Russia. How’s the rule of law over there? Respect for due process and privacy rights? Considering his profession, patriotism matters quite a bit. He wasn’t a baker, but an individual citizen entrusted with the responsibility to safeguard national security information. There isn’t a conscience clause in the documents you sign.

Further, there were ways he could have done this without him being front and center. His face was plastered all over the place the moment the news leaked — this is consistent with someone whose narcissism led him to believe that he was an important man, set out to do important things. That’s why he tired to be a green beret, failed out due to injury, then joined the CIA, where he cheated to pass the exams. Being a sysadmin in Hawaii (and a contractor, at that) is hardly the stuff of legend, so he went out and made his own legend.