I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression.
Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it.
You shouldn't change your behavior because a government agency somewhere is doing the wrong thing. If we sacrifice our values because we're afraid, we don't care very much about those values.
If I had to describe myself, I wouldn't use words like 'hero.' I wouldn't use 'patriot,' and I wouldn't use 'traitor.' I'd say I'm an American and I'm a citizen, just like everyone else.
No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused.
Suspicionless surveillance does not become okay simply because it's only victimizing 95% of the world instead of 100%.
