The thesis seems to be that America's recent civil unrest is not exceptional, and only continues the pattern that the founding of the CIA and NSA started. The implication seems to be that making federal agencies more transparent would result in more widespread acceptance of American democracy internally, though that's never explicitly stated.
Confession: I didn't read the OP. I'm a believer in Snowden and what he has to say, but to attack Biden's address to the nation felt like whataboutism.
I've been a political observer for decades, and where we are today feels like we've gone through the mirror to upsidedown land. It borders on crazy-making in how bad and deep the divide is, and I even see plenty of it here on HN (which I think of as a meeting place for intelligent people to have intelligent conversations).
Political dialog is dead and I see no hints it will improve any time soon.
