To be fair to the NSA, it's not just them. Many other government agencies operate under the assumption that society is better off if people are protected from t

To be fair to the NSA, it's not just them. Many other government agencies operate under the assumption that society is better off if people are protected from themselves. It's why we have FCC censorship and the war on drugs. Questioning this core assumption is verboten in these organizations because it is equivalent to questioning their reason for existing. So when they take criticism from the public they naturally retreat to their core assumptions and values, even if they have to dress it up with doublespeak.