I think the NSA revelations were vital and necessary

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. Since I began the OP title stating explicitly that the revelations were vital and necessary

I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion --

Do you think we should do away with Whistle Blowers and that Journalists should do what the NYT journos did back during the Bush days, suppress big news stories to protect Governments?

SOME of the NSA's capabilities and operations are legitimate. That's a fact. When this story first broke it was about the NSA's wholesale sweeping-up of Americans private conversations without probable cause. That is a whistle that has to be blown. But it now seems that some of what is being revealed has legitimate purpose.

I am not asking for silence; I'm asking for discretion. Pick and choose what to release and what to leave secret. Yes, sometimes nations -- even the US -- have a right to secrets (otherwise there wouldn't be the flap over Merkie's phone). What they don't have a right to is the privacy of peaceable citizens.

I want the violation of civil liberties to stop. These latest revelations are hurting that effort just as the killing of innocent civilians is counter-productive to ending terrorism.