To go back to blackmail arguments elsewhere... I hope people see from this that if the OP or any of his friends decides to enter politics, they are compromised

To go back to blackmail arguments elsewhere... I hope people see from this that if the OP or any of his friends decides to enter politics, they are compromised. They have strong reason to believe the NSA has dirt on them, and that if they speak out about the NSA in a way the NSA feels threatened, there is information that could be leaked to discredit them. So, will they risk all the good they might be able to do elsewhere to tackle the NSA? And this is merely the compromising information the OP remembers... and wants to tell HN about, or considers compromising. Once the likes of Fox News twist things up, even the genuinely innocent can be spun as vile and evil. Sure, buying a bit of weed might not be as devastating as other things, but there its the point, there is the mechanism of control. And none of it involves or requires NSA goons inviting one to a parking lot at 2am for a quiet word.