[Strategerist]

Ok, so what I’ve learned from this thread is that Manning is a traitor and Snowden is not, because Manning is gay and Snowden is not.

Gotcha.

[KirbDog]

Ok, so what I’ve learned from this thread is that Manning is a traitor and Snowden is not, because Manning is gay and Snowden is not. Gotcha.

Gay or not Manning was in uniform and that alone makes this a whole different ballgame.

[a fool in paradise]

Manning did what he did because he threw a hissyfit over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (a policy he knew was in place when he took the job).

Snowden did what he did because he threw a hissyfit that Obama wasn’t living up to some of his promises to leftists (he took the job to exact his revenge).

Both sound queer to me.

[DannyTN]

It's not gay or not gay. Neither is it uniform or no uniform.

It's about the information revealed.

Manning revealed massive amounts of general war-time information, that included information helpful to our enemies, and very little content that indicated inappropriate behavior by the military.

Snowden on the other hand is a mixed bag.

• Snowden revealed government spying on American citizens without a warrant, with very little oversight by a secretive court that only hears the government side. This represents an unconstitutional search and invasion of privacy. For revealing this, Snowden should be considered a hero and a defender of the average citizen.
• But Snowden unfortunately didn't stop there. He also revealed government spying on China and the EU including generalized techniques. That wasn't unconstitutional and revealing that is traitorous.