yeah, its what it does for the next Snowden that's most important here-- but that's why I suggested actual legal reform is necessary. How can a pardon set a pr

yeah, its what it does for the next Snowden that's most important here-- but that's why I suggested actual legal reform is necessary. How can a pardon set a precedent? Its an act of an executive, not a court? It would be up to whoever is the president when the next Snowden occurs to grant clemence or no at their total executive discretion, no? So how's that a precedent? And how comforting it would be to the next Snowden that his life is at the whim of the current president to grant or take should he go through with a leak. Or am I misunderstanding how the US legal system works? I have to grant you're completely right about the political climate though. No legislative change will happen w/o a wide perception that the party at fault is the NSA here, and Snowden's action heroic and justified and hence worthy of legal protection. And a pardon would help in establishing that. I'm really amazed how negatively he's percieved in the US apparently.