Man tries to do the right thing against a backdrop of deadly espionage, 1959: North By Northwest.

Man tries to do the right thing against a backdrop of deadly espionage, 2014: South By Southwest.

Immunity for Edward Snowden sounds about right. Instead, he has to live under the threat of abduction, interrogation and if some especially awful U.S. politicians got their way, execution.

There’s little indication that President Obama’s administration is open to leniency, or even an alternate perspective on Mr. Snowden. But as LGBT Americans can attest, the president has changed his mind before. We can hope.