There is inevitably a reason for everything. It seems to me the best motive for bypassing the courts for permission to wiretap, would be because the subjects of the spying wouldn't pass muster for even a New York minute. How very Nixonian, and likely indicates that a good many of the people spied on are law abiding citizens who happen to disagree with King George. Deja vu indeed.

Mr. Schneier's reading between the lines rings true. It makes sense that Echelon-style info-slurping is what the adminstration is trying to cover up. Maybe the story will spark public discussion, and embarass those in power into putting an end to it. For once, let's hold this President accountable for breaking criminal laws.

The present administration seems to make decisions based, not on the effectiveness of a strategy, but on maximizing of political power.

For example, they claim to need information extracted using unsavory methods, but meanwhile ignore advice given by knowledgeable military experts, which would probably be (and have been) of greater benefit. One wonders how many lives could have been saved in Iraq had the administration listened to intelligent analysis.

Ultimately, the quest of power for its own sake has got to be like quenching one's thirst with salt water.

History teaches us that the Battle of Britain in 1940 was won by Britain because they had a massive civilian network of "coast watchers" who quickly alerted central command of incoming German planes. Without these civilians, the radar and Spitfires would not have been enought. I wonder if the Bush WH would be able to muster that kind of support in America today in devense of the country. Sadly, I doubt it. Dishonesty in leadership always undermines the morale of the followers. This latest revelation of domestic spying is just another item on the long list of dishonesties of this administration. Clearly Bush and his neocons do not trust our constitution or the American citizen. I believe it is obvious that subverting our constitution is a far greater victory for bin-Laden than bringing down the twin towers and hitting the Pentagon. By ignoring the constitution and spending the US into bankruptcy, Bush is doing more to destroy our democracy than all of the terrorists in the whole world could ever hope to accomplish. I find it amazing that a Theocracy is the goal of both the Islamic militants and the Evangelical/Right-to-Lifers.

A comment on TPMCafe points out that the NSA is not under the purview of the Defense Department. It reports to the DCI.

Citizen Geebo. Our internet data miners have brought your recent letter to the subversive publication "Salon.com" to our attention. Your words have been decreed Thoughtcrime by the Commander In Chief or one of his rightfully appointed deputies. You have repeatedly used illegal phrases, which shall not be repeated in this warrant. These phrases threaten the security of the country, give aid to The Enemy, and/or threaten the personal security of His Majesty. Further, your message appears to question the Rightness of our current policies in the Unending War On Terror. For these reasons, and others which shall go unnamed and therefore unchallenged, you are hereby subject to arrest by His Majesty's Secret Liberty Defenders. You will be democratically rendered to an allied government for processing, reeducation, and information retrieval. You will be detained indefinitely until such time as you can be safely reintroduced to society, or until the successful conclusion of the Unending War On Terror. Please come quietly.

I was watching Ms. Rice on Meet the Press, and she kept saying that the powers of the Commander in Chief covered many things. And Russert would say "It isn't in the law, and the law lays it all out". And Condie would say "The powers of the Commander in Chief cover many, many... many things." Timbo.

I always get this sense that if there was something big, obvious, and evil, it wouldn't be too difficult to get every institution in America, including the ACLU, to do something about it. What I wonder about is what they were going after, why they had to do it this way, why they did not, and don't, see much of a problem.

So, you say it is a question of 'data mining'? I guess that's another way of saying "We spy on everyone, 24/7". OK, I tell my friend "Geez, the guy is now so unpopular, I hope no one assassinates the president". The data miners clip this out as 'assassinate the president', and I am off to Cuba Gitmo. It's hard to believe this will work.

I guess one kind of intelligence would be figuring out which people are unhappy, and why. Maybe you give them a voice. The other model is to wait until they are beyond unhappy, and find out how their unhappiness is going to explode. So, do we watch them as they get unhappy? Does the FBI sit around and say, "Wow, these folks are unhappy. It's just a matter of time before they will do something illegal, and then we move." Gosh, what if they were righteously and rightly unhappy about something? This seems like a pretty bad way to govern.

Isn't this the Left/Right divide? Shouldn't we have known that those folks in Iran were unhappy with the Shah? You remember, that guy we supported beyond any real reason? Wasn't it clear that the Palestinians were unhappy? Isn't it clear Darfur is a mess, that Rwanda was about to boil over. Will the data mining find any of this? Where's the money going?

In the GOParanoia Model, there are always people who have to be watched. There are always people who threaten them. There are never enough prisons.

The funny thing is, this is actually a rational, defensible technique for the protection of our country, its institutions, and its citizens -- or at least, it might have been if it weren't in the hands of an administration that has already repeatedly proven its utter faithlessness, its total corruption, and its willingness to abuse its powers not in defense of its citizens from outside threats, but in defense of its own powers and prerogatives against domestic political opposition.

I hate that they have put us in the position where the default presumption is that they're abusing it.

And if some spook is reading this, fuck you too. My America -- the America that stood for the reality, not the rhetoric, of freedom -- is stronger and more resilient than you, and will outlast you.