Nobody can please a cynic. When it comes to the White House petitions, maybe you are the one entirely level-headed critic I've come across. But there seems to b

Nobody can please a cynic. When it comes to the White House petitions, maybe you are the one entirely level-headed critic I've come across. But there seems to be no way for them to win you over short of doing precisely what you think ought to be done. Their petition promises a white house response. That's it. It's entirely likely the response will be "Snowden is a criminal. Leaking is a crime. We will not pardon him because I, Barack Obama, don't think that's the right and just thing to do." But nope, to you that's another act in their "dog and pony show". Also, if the petition does reach that 300k mark you mentioned, that means it earned the support of 0.12% of the internet-using American public. Perspective matters. (To be clear, I don't support the spying. I do think the reaction has been overblown in some cases but the program should end. To paraphrase Bill Maher, "This doesn't worry me all that much but it IS a slippery slope, and that's coming from a guy who thinks most 'slippery slope' arguments are bullshit".