In “Secrets and Lies” (2000), I wrote: It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state. It’s something a bunch of us were saying at the time, in reference to the vast NSA’s surveillance capabilities. I have been thinking of that quote a lot as I read news stories of President Trump firing the Director of the National Security Agency. General Timothy Haugh. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote: We don’t know what pressure the Trump administration is using to make intelligence services fall into line, but it isn’t crazy to ...