This is ridiculous, are people still claiming that no illegality was revealed by Snowden? If nothing else, we have Clapper's admitted lie to Congress.

He's writing in the New Yorker. New York City is still widely considered to be the #1 terror target and the New Yorker magazine knows what it's readers will probably want to hear.

Nice try NSA.

"[T]here is no doubt about the nature of China and Russia."

Forgive my indolence, but I'm not that worried about the nature of China and Russia -- I can read a history book, assuming anything in them is true.

I worry about the nature of the United States of America. Either we respect the rights of our citizens or we do not. Either we have controls in place or we do not. Either we have an appropriate level of transparency into government operations or we do not.

And if we do not, then why did we bother breaking away from Great Britain?