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This report in the NYTimes today on the range and influence of the NSA is astonishing. It's a must read by all U.S. citizens, especially because of the conclusion:

But Mr. Brenner added that he believes "technology has outrun policy" at the N.S.A., and that in an era in which spying may well be exposed, "routine targeting of close allies is bad politics and is foolish."

Another former insider worries less about foreign leaders' sensitivities than the potential danger the sprawling agency poses at home. William E. Binney, a former senior N.S.A. official who has become an outspoken critic, says he has no problem with spying on foreign targets like Brazil's president or the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. "That's pretty much what every government does," he said. "It's the foundation of diplomacy." But Mr. Binney said that without new leadership, new laws and top-to-bottom reform, the agency will represent a threat of "turnkey totalitarianism" -- the capability to turn its awesome power, now directed mainly against other countries, on the American public.

"I think it's already starting to happen," he said. "That's what we have to stop."

It's time to be scared. Very scared.

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