Meanwhile, back at the Bradley Manning proceedings, Manning’s lawyers are busy trying to get the government to consider not robbing Manning of the rest of his youth.

For the record, Manning is 25.

Prosecutors are looking at a 60 year sentence.

Attorneys for Bradley Manning, the soldier found guilty of turning over 700,000 classified U.S. files to WikiLeaks, called on a military judge on Monday to sentence him to a term that “doesn’t rob him of his youth,” rather than the 60 years urged by prosecutors.

Manning, 25, was working as a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2010 when he committed the largest unauthorized release of secret documents in U.S. history, catapulting pro-transparency website WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, into the international spotlight.

“Perhaps his biggest crime was that he cared about the loss of life and that he couldn’t ignore it,” defense attorney David Coombs said during closing arguments of the sentencing part of Manning’s court martial at Fort Meade, Maryland.

“This court has had a year and half to see the conduct of PFC Manning. He’s a little geeky at times. But he’s caring, he’s compassionate,” Coombs said. “This is a young man who is capable of being redeemed. We should not rob him of his youth.”

This is the flip side of the Snowden/Greenwald show. It’s what happens when reality hits.