In the words of Bob Dylan, I don't believe you.

"In defending the NSA surveillance programs that Snowden revealed, Deputy Attorney General James Cole told Congress last month that the administration effectively monitors the activities of employees using them.
"This program goes under careful audit," Cole said. "Everything that is done under it is documented and reviewed before the decision is made and reviewed again after these decisions are made to make sure that nobody has done the things that you're concerned about happening."

After word came out last week that NSA analysts were using the giant surveillance apparatus to spy on their personal love interests, the powers that be took great pains to explain that violations were few and to extoll the virtues of the wonderful system of checks and balances that are in place.

Does anyone else find it slightly funny and ironic that they then have to explain how Edward Snowden managed to work around all those checks and balances? Perhaps all of our incidentally collected personal information isn't quite as safe in their hands as we are led to believe?

The NSA is trying to figure out how Snowden bypassed their electronic logs, disabling all the trip wires and trap doors that supposedly guarded our data. They still don't have any idea exactly what he took. And of course if Snowden was storing all of your secrets on his many thumb drives, who knows how many of his cohorts were doing the exact same thing? Pardon me, Mr. Government man, for once again believing that all of your many assurances are total bullshit.