Please don't compare Manning to Snowden.
There's little in common between the two. Manning's subsequent torture and isolation, however, did not have intended consequence of deterring whistleblowing. Snowden, knowing now that he had no guarantee of personal safety for alerting Americans to the actions of their gov't, was forced to run into the arms of our 'enemies.' If we'd acted righteously and humanely in Manning's case, the Snowden leaks may have been handled more effectively.
I dunno why you think he has to spy on Americans to be a hypocrite. By doing propaganda for the Russians, he is affirming that sometimes you have to compromise your lesser values in order to protect greater ones.
Exactly. There's nothing hypocritical about that. It's a decision we all have to make from time to time.
If they *could* only use this to protect Americans, that'd be great. Unfortunately, there's nothing stopping them from spying on and manipulating journalists, other politicians, spying on elections, providing information to big business campaign donors to the disadvantage of competition, etc. It's important that citizens know the capabilities of their gov't so the right checks can be put into place.