How is it inexplicable? When you're tasked with stopping individual suicidal extremists hiding within your citizenry, the obvious first step is "I need more inf

How is it inexplicable? When you're tasked with stopping individual suicidal extremists hiding within your citizenry, the obvious first step is "I need more information". There doesn't need to be any conspiracy or hidden threat, it is a natural and logical response. Politicians aren't robots, obviously they care more about terrorism than tobacco. And they aren't spending political capital by setting up surveillance, they're gaining it. Obama took huge hits every time he said "ISIS is the JV", "terrorism isn't an existential threat", "chill out everyone". Imagine if he said he was diverting NSA funding to fight the tobacco industry. Basically, if you don't understand politicians, talk to the people voting for them. The NSA exists because people want it to.