[dennisw]

I like Woolsey but this is just a lot of hot air from him. The NSA has no right to spy on all Americans the way they do. Snowden did us all a favor. The idiots at NSA have only themselves to blame for---

1. Ed Snowden getting such access to their "jewels"
2. For Snowden spilling all kinds of NSA secrets to China and Russia which is terrible. But blame the NSA bureaucratic empire builders for this collateral damage. What a surprise that they exercised such loose control over contractors (like Booze-Hamilton which employed Snowden)
3. NSA contractors have made out like bandits in the expansion out to Utah for data storage and expansion at Fort Meade. 95% of the reason for NSA's gross expansion (mission creep) into domestic spying on all Americans is just to enrich the connected contractors who are all good buddies with the little Napoleons who have run the NSA for years.
4. These same little Napoleon moron bureaucrats will get their mega-payoffs when they take the revolving door or FedGov retirement then go working for the NSA contractors
5. Same as with all DC sleaze...follow the money
6. NSA is just another Washington DC money pit, one of many DC money pits and is why the greater DC region is the wealthiest in the nation.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

We all knew that the Russians and Chinese were going to get the "crown jewels".

Before 911 intelligence was much more compartmentalized. After 911 we were told that we could have stopped it if we had "connected the dots" through a central data warehouse.

Well we got our wish. Now our enemies have one-stop shopping for all of our secrets.

And with the lax security that allowed Snowden deep access who is to say that the NSA didn't also let in a deep cover Chinese and/or Russian and/or jihadi spy?

Maybe this whole Snowden thing is a cover for the NSA realizing they had inadvertently given access to all of one or more of our enemies and wanted to pin the blame on some low level figure rather than pointing their fingers at themselves.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

Bingo! First rule of government: enrich yourself!

Second rule of government: enrich your pals!

Third rule of government: get reelected!

Fourth rule of government: follow rules 1,2,3!