Surveillance is a culture not just a technology. That's a core idea behind my latest story for @theintercept, which examines a somewhat disgruntled NSA staffer who described himself as the "curmudgeon" of signals intelligence. theintercept.com/2018/08/15/nsa…
Rahe Clancy, who worked for the NSA for more than three decades, wrote a series of articles for the agency's in-house newsletter. The articles, published by @theintercept today, are from the cache leaked by Edward Snowden. Clancy believed the NSA had become too corporate. 
The agency, Clancy believed, was drowning in corporate jargon and losing sight of its mission. In his last article before retiring, he wrote about a meeting in which he could barely understand what was being said; the "corp-speak" was nearly unintelligible.
Here's the link to that article. theintercept.com/snowden-sidtod…
Unexpectedly, Clancy's article became a viral hit. The newsletter printed a sampling of approving comments from NSA staffers. "I have often mourned the NSA that I joined in 1982," one of them wrote. "If anyone knows where it went, please send me a map."
Here's the link to the comments published by the newsletter. theintercept.com/snowden-sidtod…
I reached out to Clancy three years ago but he didn't respond. When I reached out again in July, he hesitated but provided some comments via emails we exchanged. "I was not anxious to discuss any of the leaked documents," he wrote. "I'm still not thrilled about it!"
He continued, "I wrote these articles not only to voice my personal concerns (and frustration) about the state of the Agency but to get people talking and thinking. I had hoped to encourage the worker bees to become more vocal and involved. Get ideas rolling uphill if possible.”
He doubts anything came of it, though. "If I influenced Agency seniors in any way, I would be pleasantly surprised," he wrote. Still, current employees have sought him out to shake his hand. "I know that at least some people remember me,” Clancy added.
