That is a good point. Dissent by voice, and without action, cannot be punished in the US. But classifying dissenting actions such as whistleblowing as such hein

That is a good point. Dissent by voice, and without action, cannot be punished in the US. But classifying dissenting actions such as whistleblowing as such heinous crimes, and punishing to the point of torture, is a stifling of dissent as well. Recall the civil rights movement, where dissent by voice alone was not enough, and unjust laws had to be broken in order to bring attention to the more important issue. Beyond a point, the more severely a country punishes those dissenting actions, the less free the country is, in my opinion. Of course this can range from jailing, to waterboarding, to buck naked solitary confinement, to unceremonious executions, and military actions against civilians. The US isn't the worse by this measure, but it's not spotless either.