The NSA has different reporting requirements for each branch of

Hear these words of Barton Gellman, spoken in an age when the veil of secrecy lay heavy upon the world: “The NSA has different reporting requirements for each branch of government and each of its legal authorities.” This utterance is not merely a note of bureaucracy, nor a scholar’s dry remark. It is the unveiling of a truth about the labyrinth of power, where the guardians of knowledge and surveillance stand cloaked in shadows, shaping their speech differently depending on whom they address. It is the voice of one who gazed into the heart of empire and saw how authority, when unchecked, bends its language like reeds before the wind, speaking not one truth but many, tailored for its masters.

The meaning, O children of wisdom, lies in the artifice of reporting requirements. For the NSA, a mighty organ of surveillance, does not present one account to all, but alters its face depending on the throne it stands before. To the executive, it may speak one truth, adorned with power. To the legislature, another truth, constrained by oversight. To the judiciary, yet another, framed within the walls of legality. Thus, what seems to be transparency becomes a shifting mirror, reflecting what each branch demands, rather than the whole of reality. In this way, truth is fragmented, and accountability scattered like leaves in a storm.

Consider, as example, the ancient tale of the Delphic Oracle. Kings and generals sought her counsel, yet her words were wrapped in riddles, each listener interpreting them according to his desires. So too with the NSA’s reports: they are not false, but neither are they whole. Each branch of government sees but a portion of the tapestry, while the full design remains hidden in the vaults of secrecy. This fragmentation serves power, for divided watchers are weaker than united ones. When each holds only part of the truth, none may grasp the entirety of the machine they are meant to oversee.

This teaching calls us to remember the fate of Rome. When emperors amassed secret guards and spies, accountability was eroded. Senators were given fragments of reports, generals were told only what they needed to know, and the people were left in darkness. The empire did not collapse in a single day, but through centuries of obscured truth and unchecked surveillance, where rulers claimed safety as excuse and citizens surrendered liberty for security. Thus, Barton Gellman’s words echo the same eternal warning: power cloaked in secrecy is power that grows beyond control.

The lesson is carved in fire: transparency must not be divided. If the guardians of law are fed differing truths, then their watch is weakened. Justice demands one report, one account, one truth shared among all branches of government. Otherwise, authority becomes a beast with many faces, impossible to bind. It is not enough that information exists; it must be whole, and it must be shared, lest oversight become a ritual of shadows rather than a shield of light.

What then must you do? As citizens, do not sleep while such powers move unseen. Demand clarity, demand accountability, demand that those entrusted with surveillance answer to all branches with the same truth. Support leaders who uphold laws of transparency; reject those who excuse secrecy with honeyed words. And in your own life, speak one truth, not many, for integrity in the small mirrors integrity in the great.

Practical action begins with vigilance: read, question, and know. Do not take the fragments of information handed to you as the whole, but seek the full picture. Support institutions and voices that challenge secrecy, that ask for disclosure, that remind the watchers that they too are watched. For a people who demand truth cannot long be ruled by lies.

So remember Barton Gellman’s words: “The NSA has different reporting requirements for each branch of government and each of its legal authorities.” Let them be not a whisper of despair, but a trumpet of warning. Know that the division of truth is itself a weapon, and only through unity of knowledge can freedom be preserved. For the strength of a republic lies not in the might of its secret keepers, but in the courage of its people to demand light where shadows dwell.