Dude, think again. Kissinger has one. Obama has one. The EU has one. Giving one to Assange, Manning and Snowden sends the wrong signal, they're not crooks.

Statues erected to promote freedom of speech and tell people they should not be afraid to say when there is something going wrong are considered "provocative".

I defy you to show a non-trivial, worked example. Even for a stylized case like a symphony, there are still interpersonal rivalries at work. The "entropy of the human soul" can be minimalized (at, say, a monastary), but never retired. And a symphony or a monastery are miniscule, edge cases.

How does one kid go from getting a bad grade to breaking and entering... Probably by following the train of thought that anything is ok as long as you bring home good grades.

That's what good parenting is about, right? Making sure your kids knows that his grades mean everything.

Someone fucking up on a test, then having the bright idea of "hacking" a computer (when obviously having no skill whatsoever to do so), then lighting the computer on fire without either considering that this will not accomplish anything nor having the sense to know that this fire might not be limited to the computer but may spread...

If that are the actions of a rational adult, ... Ok, it's the US, I withdraw my argument.

Funny enough, if he actually HAD screwed like an adult, he'd probably be in trouble with the law now, too...

I don't think they're deluded in the slightest.
1. It's a plausible sounding sales pitch.
2. It's a bait-and-switch to get the hook set, ensnare people, and use them for political ends.