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May 11, 2006
Guess Who's Listening?
Well, well, well. Thursday morning's USA Today took the prize for headline of the day -- NSA Has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls. For those unfamiliar with government lingo, NSA stands for the National Security Agengy, which is by far the largest and most secretive of the nation's intelligence agencies. Oh, and Americans means you.
That's right folks, our beloved federal government has been compiling phone records on "tens of millions" of its citizens, under the auspices, of course, of that reliable Bush administration catch-all, The War on Terror. Even more heartening is that this surveillance was conducted with direct assistance of the largest telecommunications companies in the country, AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.
These phone companies gave the government your phone records, perhaps for a price, since the USA Today story indicates the firms have been "working under contract with the NSA" since shortly after 9/11. Nice to know your call list is worth something, isn't it? Only Denver-based Qwest refused to comply.
Friday's Washington Post picks up on the political fallout, beginning with the revelation's potential impact on the confirmation of newly designated CIA Director, General Michael Hayden. Hayden is the former head of the NSA, who has publicly advocated for the president's ability to increase domestic spying without warrants. Ouch.
Our favorite line of the Post piece, however, centered around President Bush's attempts Thursday to put out this latest political fire that officially wasn't even officially burning.
"Bush made an unscheduled appearance in the White House press room, where he sought to shape perceptions about the surveillance while declining to acknowledge that it is taking place. He said that 'the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful,' but specified no source of statutory or constitutional authority. He denied forcefully that his administration is 'mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,' saying, 'Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaeda and their known affiliates.'"
Great stuff.
Somewhat surprisingly, Congress yowled with outrage. (I guess these guys are finally tired of being walked on.) Multiple Democratic members signed letters demanding an investigation, but it was a handful of Republican senators who screamed the loudest.
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania promised to drag the complicit phone companies before his committee, and Pat Roberts of Kansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina expressed outrage.
Who knows where this story will go, but for the White House it is yet another flaming torch that must be juggled. How many can you have in the air before you drop one? We'll see.
Posted by houtopia at May 11, 2006 09:47 PM