David Petraeus and mistress

The one consistent argument from the anti-Snowden crowd is that he broke the law, so he has to pay. No exceptions. That also happens to be the attitude in Washington...but with exceptions for political insiders.

Mr. Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. He is eligible for up to one year in prison, but prosecutors will recommend a sentence of probation for two years and a $40,000 fine.

Let's get something out of the way right now - David Petraeus didn't just make an "oopsie". David Petraeus knowingly committed several felonies.

It’s hard to overstate the shocking nature of the government’s case against Petraeus. The information that he gave Paula Broadwell, his friendly biographer with whom he was then having an extramarital affair, was among the most sensitive in the US government. According to the indictment, Petraeus gave Broadwell eight black books containing “classified information regarding the identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings … and [his personal] discussions with the president of the United States.”
Much of this was Top Secret, and some was SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) higher than Top Secret – and he admitted in his plea to lying to the FBI about his leaks, knowing that doing so was a crime in itself.

Fortunately none of that information made it into his biography, but Petraeus had no way of knowing that beforehand, or being certain of who his mistress would share it with.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. says that Petraeus has done too much for the country to be put in a prison cell.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says that Petraeus has "suffered enough".

Let's take a moment to put this into perspective.
Chelsea Manning, currently serving 35 years in jail, had access to SCI information every day. She chose not to share it, unlike Petraeus.
Daniel Ellsberg, who faced 115 years in jail for his leaks, said, “The Pentagon Papers I disclosed were all Top Secret. I’d been cleared for SCI too, but disclosed none of it, unlike Petraeus.”

Meanwhile, former CIA Director Leon Panetta let classified information slip to "Zero Dark Thirty" screenwriter Mark Boal didn't even get a slap on the wrist, but John Kiriakou, who blew the whistle on the CIA's waterboarding torture program, got 30 months in prison.

But let's get back to Edward Snowden.

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., told U.S. News & World Report that Petraeus broke the law “to impress a girlfriend. Edward Snowden released confidential information in order to bring attention to overwhelming and pervasive constitutional violations.”

I wouldn't go so far as to say Petraeus leaked just to impress his girlfriend. He was also leaking for personal gain.
Manning, OTOH, leaked for the "public good". So did Kiriakou. So did Snowden. That seems to be the determining factor between a slap on the wrist and having the book thrown at you.

“The factual charges against [Edward Snowden] are not more serious, as violations of the classification regulations and non-disclosure agreements, than those Petraeus has admitted to, which are actually quite spectacular.”
“If disclosing the identities of covert agents to an unauthorized person and storing them in several unauthorized locations deserves a charge with a maximum sentence of one year,” Ellsberg said, “then Edward Snowden should face not more than that same one count.”

There is obviously a two-tiered system of justice for leakers: a) for the powerful, like John Brennan, who's leak blew up a CIA operation and who never was even punished for it, and b) the low-level leakers, who do it for the American public and freedom, and get crushed under the full weight of the law for it.
This the exact opposite of how things should be. Powerful people like Petraeus should be held to a higher standard. Instead we have a crowd that wants to see the firm hand of the law against anyone leaking information that the public needs to know, but willing to accept that the powerful are above the law.