>As we are breathing air at this moment there are Russian nuclear submarines off the coast of California ready to launch. Many other threats surround us 24 hours a day. It is all such fun. My tour in the Air Force Security Service taught me that there is no such thing as security. Someone is always trying to get to you. You might be successful trying to stop such attempts but that cannot always be the case.
>
>Should we give up all attempts at national security to please the ignorant? Yes, they demand! Well then by all means open the gates and let the fun begin.

Right now process seem to be going in exactly opposite direction;
We gave up all the freedoms, major constitutional rights, all the privacy AND quality of life itself for a (false) sense of security.
How much of 'security' is enough ? Is it EVER enough ?
Does the price paid (loss of freedom + massive budgets (b&w) ) justifies the results ?

What Snowden exposed does not have anything to do with 'security' the way you see it (which is up to the point justified),
He exposed industrial grade espionage on a massive world wide scale. It was one thing to spy on Soviets during cold war and completely different thing to spy on your own/foreign citizens, industrial partners, your own/foreign politicians etc. Literally EVERYBODY.

Most of people from your generation (and anybody that ever served army) would probably resonate with your views, but think about it;
Some 30 years back it would have been US authorities protecting a Soviet dissident/whistleblower from being extradited back to USSR.
Now it is EXACTLY other way around. Some change huh ?