There's no democracy only a shadow of it. We are pushed and shoved and most of the time did it ourselves voluntarily after listening patriotic brainwashing. We are ruled by elites, by big money, period. Worse is some really think that they own the country. I remember in a movie (can't remember now) a guy asks Matt Damon, Italians has this, that owns this, what you own? And he answers "we own the country". Those NSA people think exactly that way, they think they own you. Big companies think they can bend any rule. So don't expect anything change much for the benefit of the "taxpayer".

I find it extremely weird that these agencies need to hide what they are doing. Why do it in secret if this is democracy? What is wrong with what they are doing if they are not harming people? Gathering intelligence is their job, we need it. Bogeys know that too. But still they need to do it in secret. Then there must be something wrong with not what they do, but what they do with it.