The public opinion towards support of Manning has always boggled the fuck out of me. Manning didn't blow the whistle on some operation. Manning stole a fuck ton of documents and just mass dumped them. If I recall correctly, only a few (mainly surrounding the 1 video) was anything of note which could be described as "whistle blowing."
Also, let's note here that Manning's pardon was political rather than merit based. Manning didn't serve any considered time and in reality still had the fucking tax payers pay for transitioning surgery while in custody.
Then again, I suppose that seeing how I never see a positive word for Manning come from anyone who doesn't also argue that "boarders don't exist"... I shouldn't really be surprised.