While the need to have some sort of intelligence gathering apparatus is very well defined, balancing this need with the Constitution in the post-Cold War period is not easy. With the extremes of no security and too much spying, the end results can often be abuses of power or failures to identify threats. The PATRIOT Act, in its original iteration, was supposedly designed to corral these potential abuses, forcing a court order and periodic Congressional approval for data gathering. Instead, the measure has been perverted to justify any effort, so long as a court order, done in secret, is attached.

Of course, plenty of critics feared at the time that the Patriot Act would lead to exactly these kinds of abuses. Here’s a handy 2003 roundup of the criticisms and lawsuits that the legislation had already attracted less than two years after passage.

The controversial act gives the Executive Branch certain powers to pursue “enemies” and perceived terror threats. These measures tread the line of legality, often stepping over it with secret court approval. While originally intended to allow small, rare intrusions into the law, the measure has now been used to justify PRISM, the capture of Verizon data, and more — all on U.S. citizens.

This, in more common terms, is called a “backdoor.” Destroying the active system, or even modifying it in a noticeable way, is not the goal of a malicious hacker. If that were to occur, the intrusion would be easily detected and closed. Instead, the goal is to allow easy repeat access, keeping a “door” into the system open, while remaining private.

Fort Meade serves as the nerve center for NSA and military information technology procedures. Housing not only the NSA center, but also the Defense Information School and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the complex is vital to U.S. espionage and intelligence efforts.

If you missed all three cases:

• PRISM was revealed by the Guardian and Washington Post as a massive, NSA-led online data espionage program. Devised to uncover “foreign” threats, the program has faced harsh criticism for its apparent “wide net” approach to monitoring online communications. The result is potential rights violations on the entire U.S. population.

• It was also revealed that the NSA, in line with the PATRIOT Act and FISA, secured the records of Verizon users in an attempt to achieve the same security goal. While the NSA argues that the “legitimacy” of the emergency powers, combined with the snooping only on targets, reduces the privacy violations, critics point again to the “wide net” approach.

• Edward Snowden, an NSA contractor, revealed himself as the leaker of the NSA PRISM documents, shortly before exiling himself to Hong Kong. While being hailed as a hero by many, he is expected to face charges and possibly “rendering” by a CIA secret camp.

Phrasing: technically, they collect data on non-Americans only. By collecting and monitoring all data. With little doubt, Clapper will call this technicality to his defense.

Note that the religion of the latter group is not discussed. Blair’s core thesis, however poorly worded, is maintained: the problem is not with Islam. To Blair, a loud minority is apparent, one which threatens to undermine the stability and reputation of moderate members of the religion.

To quote what was worded on Reddit:

“…in the west, law and the state conform to the whims of man. Once a law or government system lose legitimacy, they fall and are replaced by another one that is more popularly accepted. Law and the government, from a (generic) Islamic perspective either conform to the confines established by their holy texts or they do not. Popular legitimacy is not a consideration of a state or law’s authority and any deviation from a "proper” Islamic state is viewed as a move from God / perfection."

R.I.P. Microsoft