A free society must always be vigilant in watching its guardians.

But that doesn’t mean a free society can do without guardians in the first place.

Those are the proper starting points from which to judge President Obama’s speech at the Justice Department Friday morning. The modest moves he announced to reform the data-gathering and

surveillance practices of the federal government’s sprawling national security infrastructure should be welcomed — as should his effort to share responsibility with Congress for the

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.