The "side" of the government? In my opinion that statement reveals a flaw in your reasoning. The government does not have a "side". It is intended to represe

The "side" of the government? In my opinion that statement reveals a flaw in your reasoning. The government does not have a "side". It is intended to represent the people. It only needs a side if it must actively support its own preservation. Consider all the stuff recently revealed by Wikileaks about Iraq and Afghanistan, and also consider the stuff released by Snowden ... None of it had to be kept secret to preserve the government as a whole, the state itself was not threatened in the least bit. All that was threatened were specific (narrow) programs which happen to be things that most Americans would be appalled by if they were known about. So clearly the "side" these entities of government are on is the "side" of keeping their own actions secret so that the public won't oppose them and shut them down. That is extremely anti-democratic. Sure we can all empathize with an NSA official who might face prison time if those responsible for the program are brought to justice, but I don't think that kind of empathy ought to prevent us from seeing the programs for what they are.