"This is not about any sort of particular program. This is about a trend in the relationship between the governing and the governed, in America. That... is coming increasingly into conflict with what we expect as a free and democratic people. If we can't understand the policies and programs of our government, we can not grant our consent in regulating them."
"And it's led us to a point, in our relationship with the government, where we have an executive of the Department of Justice, that's unwilling to prosecute high officials who lied to Congress and the country on camera! But they'll stop at nothing to persecute someone who told them the truth. And that's a fundamentally dangerous thing to democracy."
"People all over the world are realizing that these programs don't make us more safe. They hurt our economy. They hurt our country. They limit our ability to think, and live, and be creative. To have relationships. To associate freely. And they're going, "This doesn't make us more safe, this makes us less safe. It puts us at risk of coming into conflict with our own government." And there's a far cry, between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement, where it's targeted, it's based on reasonable suspicion, individualized suspicion, and warranted action, and sort of dragnet mass surveillance that puts entire populations, under sort of an eye that sees everything, even when it's not needed!"
What the NSA - and governments around the world - are doing is simply indefensible. By overplaying their hand, there will be technical solutions that will be unpredictable and exceedingly more difficult to pierce that will put real criminals beyond law enforcements reach.
It's worth noting that it's illegal to insult the king in Thailand. Should Congress pass a law in the US that makes insulting a government official a crime, would you "not worry" about criminals anymore?
"This is not about any sort of particular program. This is about a trend in the relationship between the governing and the governed, in America. That... is coming increasingly into conflict with what we expect as a free and democratic people. If we can't understand the policies and programs of our government, we can not grant our consent in regulating them."
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZpOrdoVifY