Oh dear
shutterbug, what melodrama you manage to inject into your inaccurate post. I don't plan to go down that road but will point out to you that on the one hand you say:
since he is prepared to "do the time."
Err............No he isn't, he is scuttling for sanctuary as fast as his legs will carry him, (though Russia may still put a spanner in that one).
Trawling the entire internet for personal information on the entire population beyond the scope and sanction of governmental authority just because they can?
Do grow up, they haven't the time to waste listening to your puerile 'phone conversations or tracking your internet. They are hoping to catch people who would happily destroy everything you value, including yourself, if they can. You are just too wrapped up in your civil libertarian rose coloured, huggy-fluffy world to see this. There are a lot of advantages to having been in the military, continual reality checks being just one, an understanding of the need for security is another.
We've known for years these sorts of shenanigans were going on
Indeed we have and people with a proper understanding of 'need to know' accept this.
Thank you Ed for your sacrifice
Oh Lord, please spare us from this Cyclopean outbreak and don't let them breed.