Google as TIA
Who needs Total Information Awareness when we have Google?
Of coarse, Google being a private enterprise can be 'fired' and needs to (at least over the long run) respond to market forces. Sadly (of particular note right now), you can't fire the government.
At least if we had more of a semblance of the accomodating nature of the parliments of Europe (w/o the corruption/instability of Italy thank you), opionions dissenting from either party's platform would have more relative political weight.