Really good govt secrecy from the courts can hide as much incompetence as cool tech.
Incompetence is one way of looking at it.
I was driving a cab many years ago and a lady was in the cab with a kid about 5 or 10 years old. The kid said to his mother something like "mom you have a booger in your eye", and the mother started beating the kid. Not just mild hitting, she was pounding him and he was screaming. I didn't know whether to pull over and break it up, I did nothing.
I don't know much about that kid now. He would be in his 30s. I do know pretty surely he supports the NSA and any other agency without question. Some people are taught one direction, some another.
Incompetence might not be the best word.