Heroic civil disobedience, in my view, requires violating the law and accepting the consequences in protest. Both laureates Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Ma

Heroic civil disobedience, in my view, requires violating the law and accepting the consequences in protest. Both laureates Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela flouted the law and accepted the consequences. Were those two individuals adopting a position of subservience and weakness? Snowden seems pretty subservient to Putin right now, and relies completely on him for his continued safety and asylum in Russia. He's in a pretty weak spot since Putin can dispense with him any time he wishes - either deport him or have him disappear, and the US won't raise a finger - but will keep him around as long as he's politically useful.