I see from other reports that the possibility I had allowed that Obama’s passing the blame was a stopped-clock-twice-a-day instance, was not, in fact the case, and that his intelligence briefings even late in his last term had included warnings about the DAISH (a.k.a. ISIL, ISIS or lately IS). While I’m happy that the use of NSA resources to monitor American citizens in violation of the plain meaning of the Constitution, if not of some twisted interpretation given by secret courts (what would the Founders thing of secret courts?), was not, in this instance, responsible for the imperilment of our material safety, I’m still not pleased with the conduct of signals intelligence against the American citizenry as a whole.
I spent 33 years with the Agency, almost all of it on the tip of the spear, 22 years overseas. In my job I would’ve seen intercepts between US persons. I never saw ONE. We were continually reminded of our responsibilities under the 4th Amendment; a violation could result in dismissal or prosecution. If it went on, it was pretty well hidden.