system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The NSA was doing illegal things secretly from the American public. Snowden exposed them. Why does not every American see him as a hero?
gpt
A cynical explanation is that many people in the USA already know that the CIA / NSA / military sometimes do things that are criminal and morally indefensible.  But they are working for us -- "Team USA" -- and they are advancing USA interests (I realize this is debatable).  Snowden makes "Team USA" look bad and he nullifies the benefit of some of the NSA / CIA / military programs.

If the USA is just another self-interested country, without any special moral superiority, then it's "us against them" and Snowden is hurting American interests.

It is only the idealistic or morally superior Americans (college students?) who would see Snowden as a hero.  There are many cynical Americans who want us to win, whether we are morally justified or not.