> By way of bona fides, before I'm again asked how long I've worked for NSA

I hate that you have to make that disclaimer. I think the attitude that only people who have a vested interest in the current system could possibly not agree completely with the group think is part of the reason why privacy advocates have so little political clout.

It's really easy to convince yourself that the system is irredeemably broken and any attempts at change are futile when you can't acknowledge that people might have legitimately different opinions on the subject than what you and your friends personally believe. You can't find common ground with others if you reject offhand differences in how they approach a given problem. And when you can't find common ground with others, you'll never have any impact in a democratic society.