The oath Snowden took to the consitution was more important than one to secrecy

Unfortunately, there is no way to actually show evidence to prove that exposing the NSA's activities would make it more difficult to perform their operations. It is really just common sense. If you are doing something secret like spying (spying is essential for intelligence gathering for national security) and it is exposed openly it is kind of hard to continue doing it effectively. You shouldn't need proof to enforce a claim that is backed by common sense. Courts are based on evidence, of course, but common sense has to be taken seriously as well. I will not argue that the NSA did not break any laws because they obviously did and I didn't deny that they didn't. The NSA should answer for the crimes, but I think leniency should be practiced because they were doing it for a valid cause within the government. I said that those laws tend not to apply to them (evidence in that they were doing it for years) at all times as shown in the past and they shouldn't if it is for the sake of national security, but that is my own opinion. Due process and procedures should still be followed to avoid issues, of course. I am not bothered by the NSA collecting data on me or anybody else because I personally have nothing to worry about or to hide from the government. I believe people's privacy should be protected, of course, but it has to be within reason. If we continue to create laws that protect people's privacy to an extreme we will no longer be able to investigate crimes efficiently and perform preventative operations to keep horrible crimes from being executed to begin with. The NSA's operations primarily in question is intelligence gathering of data and communications that could prove instrumental in a future investigation or preventative operation to protect us. I would rather have the NSA have all of my data than have somebody, or myself, be a victim of terrorism. Like I said before, the government does not have any malicious intent with their intelligence gathering. That is an easy and safe claim. When was the last time you experienced the U.S. government intentionally doing something to harm innocent American citizens? I don't think you will come up with a single credible case because the government would gain nothing from doing that. My earlier statement about the government core responsibilities as according to a law textbook was not put down in order of more to least important; both are equally important as I stated just before that comment. "It is the government's foremost responsibility to protect its citizens because it is, in effect, protecting its own existence while doing that." On top of that the NSA does not have the manpower or resources to personally scan every piece of data that they collect. The majority of it would be stored in databases for later analysis if needed as a resource. There is no real reason to feel "violated" because a government agency is collecting your information for your protection and is safely stored on a secure database server. I am much more fearful of when private corporations have my data on their unsecure private servers that are constantly subject to business marketing and outside hacking. Thomas Jefferson's quote "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty" does not apply in my opinion because I am not fearful of the government and I think it is safe to say that there is no reason to be fearful of the U.S. government. Our government has no power forcefully make us do anything. The United States military is owned by the people and filled with American volunteers. They will not obey an order that oppresses the American people. The American government will always fear the people and I think that is a safe assumption. The NSA cannot do anything harmful with the data they have that we need to fear, especially now with them in the spotlight. Finally, I would like to say that I agree with your ideas on patriotism with loyalty to the people. The best interests of the people should always be foremost in the government's priorities because that is also, ultimately, in the government's best interest. I believe we should heed the warnings of the past because history is important to learn from, but we also have to consider current, modern era of situations and way of thinking. Thank you for the debate.