The thing I think should be emphasized is that while the majority of the people may now trust the FBI, the NSA, and the US Government in general to do the right thing, this is the same FBI that just a generation ago investigated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a <strike>terrorist</strike> communist and apparently tried blackmailing him into committing suicide[0]. (The communist threat at that time filled the same place in the American psyche as does the terrorist threat today.) The NSA recently spied on their congressional oversight committee. Without strong controls on government investigative powers, we're just one Herbert Hoover away from a completely unchecked and out of control security apparatus.
It's not about trusting the American government to do the right thing. It's about trusting this government and all future American governments to do the right thing.
EDIT: Also, at least one legal expert estimates that the average American accidentally commits three felonies per day, meaning that most of us are mistaken when we think we don't have anything to hide.[1]
It's not about trusting the American government to do the right thing. It's about trusting this government and all future American governments to do the right thing.
EDIT: Also, at least one legal expert estimates that the average American accidentally commits three felonies per day, meaning that most of us are mistaken when we think we don't have anything to hide.[1]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_A._Silverglate