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As to rolling them back, there is precedent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee

Otherwise the wag who penned Government Builds Free Cloud-Based Backup for an Ungrateful Nation (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6012941) sort of addresses your other points.

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I think there's a fair chance we could actually roll this back, given enough pressure and attention. The question is how to know that the NSA/CIA is really not monitoring us. Answer: citizen groups watching the watchers. That's right: we monitor the NSA and the CIA, and if blocked, immediate court action.

I'm not saying this will really happen. But I don't think it's impossible, and I think many of us would agree that it's warranted.

Well, they could roll it back, or they could get better at keeping secrets.

Until they get caught again, potentially facing an even bigger crapstorm.

Yeah, that's why the citizen oversight. We can't trust the government to police itself, obviously.

We could know by shutting them down and making the concept of secret courts illegal.

s/president/precedent/;

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