David Simon provides a gift of context.

So much good stuff here, but this is my current favorite:

…if I sound exasperated with other liberal voices on this issue it’s because their barricades are in the wrong place, facing the wrong way, defending the wrong moral and legal terrain. Thus far, the sum of liberal argument against the NSA program amounts to a Maginot Line of legal ignorance, borrowed libertarian selfishness and positive proof that those who fear a civil liberties apocalypse and wish to fight against such were decades late to the fields where those battles actually rage. Shit, they’re still not in the right place.

If conservative, then you can support this program and others far more intrusive with Cheney-like contentment, regardless of how many Orwellian nightmares are conjured by others. And if you are libertarian, well hey, there’s never an act of communal sacrifice or societal aspiration that rises above the requisite contempt for collective governance and shared responsibility. For them, this issue is tailor-made. But hey, at least those folks are consistent.

– David Simon