[microb]

What I'm about to say is absolutely nuts, but it could be that this is something the NSA leaked intentionally and the media is running with it for reasons we are not aware of. Despite twitter and the like, the mainstream media is still largely in control of what occupies the "news" and therefore what the otherwise apathetic public is concerned about.

[paganel]

> What I'm about to say is absolutely nuts, but it could be that this is something the NSA leaked intentionally

I had a similar thought this morning, not necessarily about the NSA leaking this on purpose, but about how they could turn this into their own advantage. You can already see that Obama has gone on record saying that "we cannot fight against terror without giving away some of our freedoms" (or something very similar to this, I'm too lazy to search for the exact quote), a statement which he couldn't have made before this scandal.

What's really more disconcerting are all those comments (reasonably highly voted) coming from what seem to be genuine American citizens saying something very similar to what Obama is saying: "We can't fight terrorism if we don't let the Government go through our stuff".

A little bit OT, I'm surprised nobody has yet made a parallel between present-days United States and the end times of the Roman Republic. You just have to replace today's "terrorists" with the "Barbarians/Germans" of that time and Julius Caesar with today's over-reaching Government. The bad news is that for all of Brutus's and Cicero's efforts Caesar was followed by future emperor Augustus and the end of the Roman Republic.

[microb]

We're definitely not immune to collapse. Nuclear weapons just make things a collapse more sticky. Society needs a scapegoat to channel it's inherent violence (ie the Communists of the 50s, the "Barbarians" of Europe as you mentioned & the Terrorists of today) It's not a coincidence. Check out professor Rene Girard[1] from of Stanford if you haven't heard of him. The people who run this show know exactly what they are doing.

[1]http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rene+girard+scap...

[kintamanimatt]

It's reaching considerably, but the only two reasons that could be true is if the truth is considerably worse (or will be) and the NSA is getting the world used to the idea of pervasive surveillance inch-by-inch (unlikely), or it's not as bad as it's being made out to be and they're framing reality in terms of a more dire alternative. An example of the latter would be that infamous daughter's letter home to parents. [1]

The reality is probably that the unauthorized leak is just that, an unauthorized leak and a lot of people internally are pissed as hell.

The surveillance apparatus in the US and other places is probably more developed than we know about and probably getting more sophisticated.

[1] http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/letter.asp

[cdvonstinkpot]

Ok, I'll bite. What sort of hypothetical could warrant such an action, intentionally leaking this story?

Do they want to reassure us of their best efforts in protecting us from terrorism?

I can't imagine a scenario existing where the tables might eventually turn & those who were once appalled & angry that the NSA was so into everything change their minds and become reassured that the gov't is actually on their game & has the means to get some outrageous terrorist threat we couldn't have imagined under control again because of their broad wiretapping capabilities.

[microb]

Security reassurance is something I hadn't thought of, but I think you are right that this leak goes way too far for that to work. I don't believe this either...but if I wore a tinfoil-hat I would point out that:

1) The NSA "leak" is not really news because it was reported in 2006[1].

2) "Bad" publicity from it is the beginning of Obama's 2nd term downfall which is happening too soon in his 2nd term for us to be angry enough to elect a Libertarian 2016. It'll be an opportune time to usher in an all-talk small government Republican in 2016 to maintain Red State vs. Blue State illusion. Even if the Repub doesn't win, it'll look like the election was a close ideological fight, which is all that matters in the eyes of the public. Of course, all 2016 candidates will continue to support the NSA oversight regardless of what they say during their campaign, so it won't matter whether red or blue gets the oval office.

Like I said... science fiction.

[1]http://yahoo.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.h...