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While he did a laudable thing, Snowden ain't Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela wasn't 'Nelson Mandela' when he was sentenced to life in prison either.

Nelson Mandela was the head of a terrorist organisation that targeted civilians in its efforts to gain power by violent revolution.

See Nkonto N Sizwe, the Church Street bombing, Winnie Mandela's spree of "necklacing" (burning people alive with tires around their necks), etc. Mandela is not a saint nor a great leader.

He didn't do a laudable thing, two wrongs don't make a right.

Welcome, deontologist, to the world of consequentialism.