[thotpoizn]

In today's political climate, there's more than a passing chance that a politician who is not at the end of his or her career could survive the average scandal more or less unscathed, while the damage to the NSA would be catastrophic.

I could easily imagine someone coming out with "Yes, I was banging the intern, and her sister - that's totally true. What I did was wrong, and my wife may never trust me again - we're going to work through that. However, check out the incredible ramifications of this dossier being held over my head in order to coerce me into silence!" - dude might pull off the scandal, or he might not - that's a D20 roll on his charisma mainly, but definitely a non-zero chance. Over in the blue corner, on the other hand, you've got basically no saving throw.

[aptwebapps]

I think this is more or less true. I also think that the NSA can wield plenty of influence without resorting to something so risky. They have a lot of support among the political elite. This administration has their back and I bet the next one would too, whichever party wins in 2016.

[chopin]

But what if they are threatening relatives or other persons you care about? There might be choices where you are not the (only) bearer of the consequences.