I know this will, forever, brand me the NSA Defending, lackey of authoritarianism; but ...

[Pholus]

26. There is a difference between policy and practice.

But to conflate these two and claim that both should be witheld from the people is rather naive I think.

Practice must involve operational details that need to remain secret. What assets are where, what exactly was learned -- sure, needs to be secret.

Policy is the "why and how" and is the mandate of the people as is the law justifying it. We are proud of the fact, after all, that we live under "the rule of law." "Equal Justice Under Law" and all that.

What is it we always get told -- "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear?"

Two way street, there buddy. If our policies and laws are truly above board, they should be proudly announced to our citizens. If all public communications is scanned and archived, if our faces are going to be scanned for virtual police lineups, then it should happen after the consent of the governed is given. We don't have to know the operational details, but we do have the right to generally know what is being done in our name.

After all, my taxes support this bullshit and I am governed by these laws -- I have every right to be informed in the policy sense. And I have a right to say no AND to criticize the political leaders that are not honest with me.