Let me make it clear to all I am not accusing anyone who stands up for privacy as having something to hide.  Quest, you are more well-read than I for sure.  You know my stance and possibly my reasons for defending NSA.

I submit the following for serious thought:

Signal intellegence gathering has been around since radio wave transmission for communication became a norm.  In wartime, masking information in various forms was a necessity since radio waves are the least secure of all communication; hence, Navajo native Americans were used as radio operators in WWII and elaborate coded manual morse transmissions were developed.  These were countered by increased efforts to more intensely monitor said transmissions and increasing efforts to break coded information. There are plenty of books and articles describing those efforts in past modern wars. It is all a very messy, secretive but necessary thing in preserving the ideals and security of any country. One country is outraged to find it is being monitored.  They cry, "Spy", all the while they are doing the same.

I am sure there would be outrage by US officials and the public if they were to find that our friends, the Brits, were bugging our embassy in London.  I am sure the Brits would feel the same outrage if they found the same scenario in Washington. Lots and lots of hurt feelings about violation of trust would prevail. I use the preceeding as an example only to illustrate that someone must guard the cookie jar.  Someone is guarding the cookie jar.  The more mundane the method of communicating evil, the more we must observe the seemingly mundane for clues.

 9/11 brought a new reality to the American people.  There are people who hate us to the point of savagely killing because we are free.  There are people who hate us because we don't embrace their religious beliefs.  (caution here,  I am not attacking a belief system,  I am attacking those evil people who indescrimately kill innocents.) There are people who have brought their war inside our borders.

Cell phones in everyone's hands upped the ante. Cowardly terrorism upped the ante. Human couriers delivering plans and instructions for terrorism across national borders has upped the ante.  Masked email messages in tweets, instagrams, facebook accounts have upped the ante.  Car bombs, shoe bombs, underwear bombs, hijacked planes for weapons, bombs in garbage cans have upped the ante.

All of the above cannot be ignored.

Personally, I trust God above all others even though I know he is watching me.  NSA is not a god but I think it is necessary and good especially if it is insulated from internal politics.  It fails when it is directed by politicians for political gain and not the good of the country. 

What I have yet to see is anyone come forward with a better way to protect our country, families and children.  If you have a viable alternative, submit it now.