[jacquesm]

If there is one term that has lost its value over the last three decades it is 'national security'. That gets trotted out for any number of reasons, the easiest and in my opinion most accurate interpretation is that it stands in for 'our desire to do this'.

[pseudohadamard]

"'National security' is the last refuge of a scoundrel" - Samuel Johnson (sort of).

In the US it's also the root password to the Constitution, which is what makes it so useful:

  Welcome to the US Constitution v1789, patchlevel 33

  Username: root
  Password: national security

  Last login: Thu Mar 28 10:30:00 EST on pts/0
  Welcome to the Constitution, you can now do anything you want

  $