Patriotism and self-interest aren't mutually exclusive. I'd also like to add that wanting the country you live in to be safer and stronger against inside threa

Patriotism and self-interest aren't mutually exclusive. I'd also like to add that wanting the country you live in to be safer and stronger against inside threats is also patriotism and self-interest. In my experience people also generally prefer to be secure in their person, property and privacy against those that would exploit them. Of course how we each value and prioritise these things will skew our definition of patriotism and our perception of actors like Snowden.