[TheRealThing]

Well said, Vundy. IMO, the politicians - both Democrats or Republicans who support this domestic spying on American systems fall into three categories. The first group is too stupid to understand the consequences of pursuing the massive domestic spying program. The second group knows exactly what the implications of this program are but they have concluded that the world will become such a dangerous place that we have no choice but to surrender our privacy. The third, and most dangerous group, are those people who fully understand what this type of program will eventually be capable of and how much power it will give the group who controls access to the system.

With the emerging database technology that is already being used by companies like LinkedIn and Facebook, it would be very easy to mine the data and identify potential mistresses of a particular candidate or Supreme Court Justice, for example. It would also be pretty easy to build threat profiles for American citizens based on "degrees of separation" from known criminals and terrorists. When I establish a new connection on LinkedIn, my statistics showing how many first, second, and third level contacts I have in my network is updated within a few seconds.

People who argue that the federal government cannot possibly read everybody's email or listen to their phone calls don't have a clue. I already receive transcripts of some voice mail messages through Google. There is no reason to think that does not have the capability to automatically transcribe voice mail message and then use software to search the transcripts for key words.

We are on a slippery slope and our own government will pose a much bigger threat to our freedom than terrorists if we allow them to continue to deploy programs like PRISM.

Friend of a friend said a family member had been threatened with bodily harm during a phone conversation. Long story short, they called the cell phone company and learned that certain information with regard to the conversation was available if cops had a court order for it. Who stores that info and where?

I also heard that more damning information about the NSA would be released soon under the supervision of Snowden's lawyer. While politicians associated with the first two groups you mention take solace in the belief that America will always take the high road on civil liberties, it seems more likely to me that if knowledge is power. And, given that the expansion of knowledge is growing exponentially, it follows then that absolute knowledge/power will corrupt absolutely. Regardless of assurances from W or Obama, or whoever, nobody can really successfully control this situation. We are in completely uncharted waters and those waters will be the force that determines our destination.

I'd love to believe our government is in control of foreign and fiscal affairs though I sincerely doubt that they are. When it comes to this vast data base, I don't think they have a ghost of a chance of getting the genie back in the bottle.