>But when you have sufficiently capable and competent actors in government I would lean on the side of trusting and giving the leash. The elected and appointed

>But when you have sufficiently capable and competent actors in government I would lean on the side of trusting and giving the leash. The elected and appointed members of government change. Their terms expire, they retire, they're voted out. The law doesn't suddenly change when a bad actor is elected or appointed. And laws don't generally have expiry dates. The now nearly 100 year old Espionage Act of 1917 is being applied to Edward Snowden, imagine how out of touch laws will become, and how misapplied they will be? tl;dr: the government changes and the length of the leash doesn't adapt to suit it.