Can you hear me now?

If politicians didn't have so much impact on our world affairs, I'd love 'em to death. They're just so cute and funny!

In today's New York Times, they pat themselves on the back a little for being the bastion of freedoms in America today after having exposed the US government's newfound fondness for eavesdropping on average Americans in this "relentless pursuit of terror."

[Duct tape, anyone? Gas mask? They're out there, those terror-ing guys. Just watch yerself.]

But get what some puffed-up bureaucrat has to say here.

The New York Times first reported in December that the president had authorized the N.S.A. to conduct eavesdropping without warrants.

The Times also reported in December that the agency had gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to get access to records of vast amounts of domestic and international phone calls and e-mail messages.

The agency analyzes communications patterns, the report said, and looks for evidence of terrorist activity at home and abroad.

The USA Today article on Thursday went further, saying that the N.S.A. had created an enormous database of all calls made by customers of the three phone companies in an effort to compile a log of "every call ever made" within this country. The report said one large phone company, Qwest, had refused to cooperate with the N.S.A. because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.

Some Republicans, including Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, defended the N.S.A.'s activities and denounced the disclosure. Mr. Hoekstra said the report "threatens to undermine our nation's safety."

"Rather than allow our intelligence professionals to maintain a laser focus on the terrorists, we are once again mired in a debate about what our intelligence community may or may not be doing," he said.

Yeah, I'm with Hoekstra. I mean, those personal freedom things, they're such a hassle. I mean, the right to expect that only the person you've dialed on your phone will hear the conversation, that's just so... silly.

Fucking twits. There are bad guys out in the world, so everyone needs to pay the price. Right. That makes SO much sense.

And didja notice that only ONE company resisted the government, and get this, on the rather lame grounds that there was no warrant? Oh, DOH. I *so* smell a class-action lawsuit! A phone company hands over your calling history to the government, and you've neither consented or known about their actions? Fucking SUE the bastards. Yeah. Nail 'em.

I'd say sue the government, but we know how that'll turn out.