Jeff:
You don’t post very often but, at what point does an American become a traitor when he reveals details of a government acting in direct contravention to the constitution?
How does one get that information to his fellow Americans without providing overwhelming evidence?
Said evidence is illegitimate under the constitution. So what is the big deal in exposing it?
Sure he exposed methodology and that will prove useful to enemies and competitors but, what other choice is there?
He becomes a traitor when he reveals far more to his country's two primary adversaries while hiding that fact and those documents from his fellow Americans.
From what I understand, Snowden had a very large number of stolen documents - far too many for him to review in detail to cull the ones most damaging to his country. He has cherry picked a handful to release to the press while, wittingly or unwittingly, passing on all of the rest to China and Russia, who in turn, will likely share portions with countries such as Iran and North Korea. American lives may well be lost as a result of his treachery.
Snowden could have released documents proving the NSA's overreach without endangering his fellow countrymen.