One rather important difference between Church and Snowden is that Church was elected four times to the U.S. Senate, and therefore was accountable to the voters of Idaho for his actions. Mr. Snowden was, of course, accountable to no one. Church also respected the principle of legislative oversight, and sought to maximize Congress' role in meaningful oversight of the intelligence community.

The point is that there currently is no Frank Church to oversee the intelligence community. That's why the whistleblowers have stepped in. Point of article-shrink the spy bureaucracies.

I'm sure that Ron Wyden (and Mark Udall, before his defeat) would be surprised by this claim. Of course, like Church and unlike Mr. Snowden, Wyden and Udall (alas, given the recent election results) are accountable to the voters; and, like Church and unlike Mr. Snowden, they respect the principle of legislative oversight.

Frank Church .. more like Phillip Agee.

Snowden didn't reveal names like Agee.