Paranoids, Perverts, Incompetents

This is not to infer that everyone who labors in the service of our awesome new security-surveillance regime falls into one of these categories, but when you consider the work environment---a "closed shop" that writes its own rules as it goes along, that's shielded from much if any outside scrutiny, where bureaucratic infighting skills are a core competency, and where one's job security depends on the continuous minting of fresh enemies---it's not surprising that such an enterprise would attract employees who might not be so emotionally well-adjusted to work in a more conventional setting. And if we took an honest look at them, we'd probably discover that they have been this way all along, and the only reason why we haven't learned about it sooner is that they've been allowed to keep their deficiencies under wraps in the name of keeping us safe. It's certainly a possibility!

---Baron V