Most people think of "reasonable expectation of privacy" as meaning "what can I reasonably expect the police to respect given all they're technically capable of

Most people think of "reasonable expectation of privacy" as meaning "what can I reasonably expect the police to respect given all they're technically capable of?" Obviously, the boundaries of this interpretation are tightening like a noose. But the standard can also be interpreted to mean "what is a reasonable level of privacy to expect in order for government of, by, and for the people to operate?" Or as Abraham Lincoln would put it, to "not perish from this Earth." By this standard, an awful lot of what's done by the police and military is wildly unreasonable. Indeed, the extraordinary threat to democracy posed by their near-total lack of restraint is why their orgy of abuse has attracted such shock and dismay. No reasonable person can expect this hyper-secretive, massively financed, and totally contemptuous set of organizations to happily coexist with legitimate democratic rule and the security of individual liberty. By that standard, the Founders clearly anticipated and specifically disallowed what's now unfolding.