I feel like we're getting a little lost in the weeds here with all the references to paperwork. While I'm certain that everything in this article is on the leve

I feel like we're getting a little lost in the weeds here with all the references to paperwork. While I'm certain that everything in this article is on the level, whether it's part of the Patriot Act or Executive Order 12333 is a bit arcane. NSA was recording all overseas calls long before Reagan. During the Cold War and the subsequent War on Terror, the US has basically let the spy agencies run rampant. And that's the structural problem: there is no system of checks and balances. Here we have members of the legislative branch saying they have no idea what's in various orders and are unable to provide oversight. This is their job! We have the executive branch cutting out the judicial branch in matters involving the Fourth Amendment. Once again, this is the court's job. The executive has nothing to do with anything here. Both other branches of government are free at any time to step in and take control. The Congress can shut off funding, hold public hearings, and start sending people to jail. The courts can enjoin various agencies to put a stop to onerous activities. We have all sorts of constitutional levers. Nobody seems to want to use any of them. And so, if the other two branches of our government are going to check-out of doing their job, the executive and hte intelligence agencies will happily step in and make up their own rules and systems of accountability. What we seem to have created is not a system safeguarding the constitution; rather we've created a system where nobody can be individually accountable if anything goes wrong. Everybody has a little bit work to do that on paper appears to make sense. But when you add it all up it doesn't do what it's supposed to do: defend our way of life while protecting us from those who wish to do us harm. If the other branches of government would get in the game, we might have a chance of straightening this all out. But I don't see that happening any time soon.