Try as I might I can see no reason to take the latest NSA story seriously. When the previous stories arose about the "warrentless eavesdropping" I could at least see two sides to the issue. I just didn't think it was all that important. Look, when one side advocates doing thing "X" and the other side pushes "Y" I really want "Y" to be something more than "X with extra paperwork." At least if you want me to think it is something vitally important.
In this case however I can't see another side that isn't downright stupid. Nobody's conversations are being listened to. Nobody's "privacy rights" are being infringed, because you don't have any privacy when it comes to what phone number you call or call you. Agents of the government (police and district attorneys for example) look at this type of information every day without the need for warrants, or probable cause, or even your permission. (Don't members of Congress ever watch "Law & Order"?) I can't even think of a way in which this type of data mining activity could be abused. Can anyone else?
Unfortunately, this is the sort of crap you have to deal with every election year. December can't come soon enough.
2 comments:
I'm sure you're aware of this by now, the "the latest story" was actually reported by the NYT on 12/24/05.
It is like something I haven't seen since the 1970's, a "second chance single."
Or maybe this is more of a "retro" moment: everything old is new again!
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