# What (If Anything) Do Souring Relations Between USA And Russia Mean For Ed Snowden? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852 "2015-02-28T13:50:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/21 "2015-03-04T19:26:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Why would the government _need_ to cheat? That’s not the relevant question. If it were, the indisputable fact that Richard Nixon did not need to cheat to win the 1972 election would prove that that whole “Watergate” thing was a fantasy fabrication spun by the effete-snob nattering nabobs of the liberal media. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/22 "2015-03-04T20:44:04Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The problem (as I noted earlier) is that he’s not one of the elite who can get [much lighter punishments for much worse offenses](https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/03/petraeus-plea-deal-reveals-two-tier-justice-system-leaks/): > > From one particularly insightful comment-thread post at the link: Is this for real? How can Petraeus’s crimes possibly be considered worse? Snowden released his information to the entire world, leading to the catastrophic and permanent loss of numerous intelligence-gathering capabilities. If any harm came from Petraeus’s actions, I’ve yet to hear of it. And that comment is just so idiotic I’m not even sure where to begin. From the assumption that all leaking of classified information is equally bad, to the cherry-picking of data points, to the overly generous sentence suggested for Snowden, to the idea that the president can be charged with leaking classified information, to the bizarre idea that Manning and Snowden did “minimal damage”, there’s a litany of problems with it. Someone’s got a ax to grind, and they can’t see the forest for the trees because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/23 "2015-03-04T21:01:36Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > In his mind, “a very good chance of being convicted of committing the crimes he’s admitted to” is synonymous with “unfair trial.” Actually, that seems more like a \*fair \*trial than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/24 "2015-03-04T21:06:00Z")
> [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > How can Petraeus’s crimes possibly be considered worse? When I originally posted, I contemplated putting “the identities of covert officers” in italic and/or bold and/or underline. I decided “nah, folks around here don’t need that kind of spoon-feeding”. If I had it to do over again, I’d use all of the above, and try to figure out some hack to enable blink tags. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/25 "2015-03-04T21:33:57Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > From one particularly insightful comment-thread post at the link: Wow, that’s a whole bunch of BS that you quoted from YouTube or whatever. Manning stole hundreds of thousands of documents, Snowden stole god-knows-how-many, the Kiriakou and Petraeus criticisms are probably apt, but no President has ever leaked anything ever. The President is the ultimate authority on what is, and what isn’t, classified. Personally, I think Snowden’s sentence should be in the Jonathan Pollard range. Huh, that was left off of your little list there… ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/26 "2015-03-04T21:47:12Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Bullshit. Guantanamo has taken in no new inmates in nearly a decade _cough_ **3300 block of West Fillmore, Chicago Il, 60624** _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/27 "2015-03-04T21:57:38Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > When I originally posted, I contemplated putting “the identities of covert officers” in italic and/or bold and/or underline. I decided “nah, folks around here don’t need that kind of spoon-feeding”. > > If I had it to do over again, I’d use all of the above, and try to figure out some hack to enable blink tags. Petraeus allowed his mistress to read notebooks that contained the identities of covert officers, but has there been any allegation that she passed this information on to anybody else, particularly in a foreign government, or that these officers have been compromised / arrested / shot? Compare and contrast with Manning. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/28 "2015-03-06T20:26:11Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Petraeus allowed his mistress to read notebooks that contained the identities of covert officers, but has there been any allegation that she passed this information on to anybody else, particularly in a foreign government, or that these officers have been compromised / arrested / shot? > > Compare and contrast with Manning. Right. I’m of the opinion that Snowden was probably justified in his actions, but I also don’t think Petraeus should have faced the penalty he faced. So he let an unauthorized individual peak at a few secrets. Unless she actually was a spy or passed them on to someone else, I say no harm done. Petraeus is empirically known to be one of the finest military officers this country has produced in the last few decades, throwing him away because of a technical violation of the rules seems wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852/29 "2015-03-10T15:35:34Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Right. I’m of the opinion that Snowden was probably justified in his actions, but I also don’t think Petraeus should have faced the penalty he faced. So he let an unauthorized individual peak at a few secrets. Unless she actually was a spy or passed them on to someone else, I say no harm done. “But, ossifer, I [hic!] didn’t [hic!] akshully crash [hic!] inna anything…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-do-souring-relations-between-usa-and-russia-mean-for-ed-snowden/713852.md?page=1)