i) A basic source of the problem is our government's refusal to profile Muslims. The alternative becomes dragnet surveillance.
I realize that top officials in the military, CIA, and NSA can't publicly challenge the political orthodoxy. That would be a career killer. But when someone like Michael Hayden retires (as he has), they no longer have that excuse.
ii) But there's also the outrageous notion that the gov't should have access to everyone's computer files. It's like the NSA setting up an office in every postal dept. to read everyone's mail before the addressee gets to see it. As if they have a right to eavesdrop whenever they are curious. The police state mentality has become part of the NSA culture.
iii) And it becomes a reductio ad absurdum. In the name of national security, they compromise the security of everyone's electronic communications.
iv) In addition, this is from the gov't that can't protect its own files from Chinese hackers:
