The real situation was much worse than that: The Russians nicely enough told us that the guy was a dangerous wacko. So, the Boston police investigated and then

The real situation was much worse than that: The Russians nicely enough told us that the guy was a dangerous wacko. So, the Boston police investigated and then dropped the matter. The NSA could likely have had a really tough time using their electronics to get a lead as solid as that the Russians gave us. Net, the NSA electronic data is just not very effective against such a wacko; our police departments aren't either. Maybe the hope of the NSA is catching another UBL planning another 9/11 and do so by grabbing cell phone data. Well, the terrorists know now to assume that telephones and e-mail are not secure; knowing that, the NSA will be even more useless than now. The NSA is just a bureaucracy gone totally out of control because no one with authority wants to say "Stop" and then risk being blamed the next time something goes "Boom!". Any reasonable evaluation of costs and benefits would say that the NSA should be cut way back, say, to their original mission of arranging secure communications for the State Department. Then, maybe let them try to listen in on efforts to make loose nukes. Otherwise, save the money and the US Constitution.