Hard to find a quote to pull, the whole essay is so good, but this may be the ultimate take on the NSA's shenanigans:
... And it breaks our social systems; the loss of privacy, freedom, and liberty is much more damaging to our society than the occasional act of random violence.
We can't stop all political violence. We have to figure out how much we're willing to pay—in money and civil liberties—to stop as much as we can. There is always going to be a tradeoff.