I cites concrete reasons to assume the worst:
1. Poindexter and Ridge are liars.
2. The government has a track record of abuse and killing citizens (e.g. Waco) that, while it can't beat Al Quaida, is better than your average Hamas bus bombing.
3. The people that committed those atrocities still walk free. Israel at least hunts down and kills Hamas and other killers.
4. The government appears to be too lazy to work on alternatives to spying on us: The borders are still sieve-like, etc.
So, I have to ask: Isn't it perfectly rational to assume the worst? Isn't trusting Tom Ridge bascially either the product of ignorance, or, if an informed person trusts him, psychotic behavior?
Sorry, but pointing out that Ridge and Poindexter are liars does not in turn justify that the Times lied and other folks ran with the lie without verifying it. I find your methods here rather strange.