I think that's a popular version of history promoted by the press releases and that a lot of people have swallowed that lie. Looking back through history, it's fairly obvious that small farmers weren't the government's primary concern at all.

I would agree that the government worked really well back then, and now, for those who were, and are enfranchised. That is the purpose of government.

On another note, a lot of people are asleep. Ask them about the dismantling of the Constitution, and they're fine with it. Not a big deal at all. Which is not really that surprising.

A good place to insert Benjamin Franklin's take:

Yeah. You know, I wonder if a lot of the problem is that a lot of people are simply feeling fearful. I'm hearing that a lot of people are having trouble finding jobs and are losing housing. With a lot of people on many kinds of government assistance for basic needs (food, housing, medical assistance), it may be very challenging to demand accountability from that government. Especially when it's becoming increasingly obvious how corrupt the government is acting. Imagine: Al Capone provides your family with its basic needs, and you know what he does and who he is. Are you really going to go to him and say, hey, I need you to obey the law?

One thing that no one seems to be asking with the latest allegations about bugging world leaders -- Obama says he didn't know about it.

So, why are they bugging the leaders, and who gets the data? Someone must have made an executive decision to do this, and someone must have received briefs about clearly private conversations. Those people should be sacked, or otherwise punished.

The alternative is that they are just recording everything, in the hope that a computer can pull some meaningful data out of it all. Which is perhaps less worrying, as the signal-to-noise ratio would be huge. (Or should that be tiny?)

.. the other question I have is: does all US legislation have to contrive its title to fit an acronym?
"... the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet Collection, and Online Monitoring Act (or USA FREEDOM Act)"

I am counting people like Thomas Jefferson as small farmers, using the word more by today's standards than by the standards of that time.

Not necessarily. It might just be part of the culture of the NSA - If you can get the data, get it. Whoever gets the reports may not have known how the data was obtained. They may have been told what other leaders were thinking about certain things, rather than given quotes from their email.

It's interesting to me how members of congress are seeing this bugging of politicians in other countries as a terrible thing, while bugging of the people who elected them to congress is nothing to get upset over.

Now they've added to the list -- NSA is tapping into tier 1 (via Level (3) Communications) so it can intercept data traveling from one Google or Yahoo data center to another.

Looks like Google Apps will lose a few punters.

Still, someone must make a decision to tap Merckel. And someone must receive data identifiably from that source. Whoever they are, they should go.

I imagine that in the future, all our dealings will be public. Your friends and family can find out where you are on the map. Possibly even tap into live camera feeds.
Your words will be a matter of record "But last year, you said the exact opposite of your position now!"

True privacy will be an expensive commodity. Guaranteed "quiet rooms", where private conversations can occur. Paid-for services that ensure your communications are not intercepted.

Ah. I consider Jefferson a lawyer who purchased land and slaves. I'd never describe him as a small farmer. To me, small farmer is a term I would use for a person with a small farm, whose primary income was from farming.

Well, the majority of voters don't seem to be that upset about being bugged, while the majority of other countries' leaders do seem to be upset.

I'm uncertain that other countries are really surprised at the revelations. This sort of thing has gone on for centuries. I suspect that the other countries are pretending to be upset in order to gain concessions.

I smell a business opportunity. How the heck would you even be able to make that kind of guarantee?