central_va: “Look, a lot of civilians at Verizon knew what was happening...”
Why is that relevant? Are you saying it’s OK, because the companies were either strong armed or volunteered to release private information to the federal government? In other words, the government didn’t directly collect the information itself?
That still has nothing to do with Snowden and whether or not he’s guilty of treason. A whistleblower is a hero if he reveals illegal or corrupt activities. I think Snowden has revealed the government is routinely violating our 4th Amendment protections.
If any American can prove that their phone records and conversations were listened to without a court order then that person will become wealthy indeed. There are 1000’s of civil rights lawyers waiting to pounce on this.