If you think that Snowden ought to have gone through channels, consider this.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. Stones?

Seems rather pointless. If he felt the information needed to be made public in the first place, the potential consequences didn't stop him from making it public. So the only purpose of him going to jail for having done so would be to 'punish' him. I don't see very many people going around turning themselves in for 'punishment' when they break the law without getting caught. People who run red lights, who speed, who commit vandalism, who shoplift... Really, almost nobody ever breaks the law and tries to get themselves thrown in jail unless they think that doing so will add to societal outrage. The people who are outraged about being spied on already are, so Snowden going to jail won't add anything. And the people who feel he should go to jail certainly won't be outraged by him doing so.

So he had nothing to gain from 'staying and facing the music'. Just years of his life wasted rotting in a jail cell.

I wouldn't call that 'having stones', I'd call that sheer stupidity. And apparently he wasn't that stupid.