Replied to wrong person last bread; if you know who you are, sorry.
I'm just here because this seems like a place to keep an eye on. I'm not about to let it rewrite my belief or value system. Agree with a lot of what you say, there's a very culty undercurrent here. I was the pro-Snowden guy in the last thread. That's badthink around here, and the locals will remind you.
Fooling themselves, and actively being fooled. It's amazing how they don't realize they're being brainwashed to love the intel agencies and hate their whistleblowers. It's like all the links to careers with CIA/NSA weren't enough of a hint. It doesn't occur to them to question why they've come to be in full agreement with the opinions of the letter agencies.
I remain firm in my convictions. If you practice clandestine mass surveillance, you aren't the good guys. If you demonize whistleblowers that cast light on your illegal mass surveillance, you most definitely are not the good guys. I think you're doing the right thing by asking these questions.