According to USA Today, the National Security Agency (NSA) has, since "shortly after 9/11," been "secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth." According to USA Today, this program "reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans +óGé¼GÇ¥ most of whom aren't suspected of any crime." And never say an out-of-control NSA is anything if not ambitious: the agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders.
Wonderful, huh? Domestic, spying on pretty much all of us, without any legal authority - like a search warrant - to do so? This is America, land of the FREE? Sure doesn't seem like it these days.
Oh, and guess who headed up the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005, when the program moved into full swing? That's right, "Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated Monday by President Bush to become the director of the CIA." That's just great...
Oh, by the way, President "Pinocchio" Bush outright lied about this program when he claimed it was only being directed at calls where "one end of the communication must be outside the United States." Well, that's completely untrue, as it turns out, just like the Weapons of Mass Destruction, the buget surpluses which would remain despite Bush's tax cuts, etc., etc. According to USA Today:
Sources, however, say that [Bush's claim] is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers' names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA's domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.
This, obviously, is outrageous. Impeachable, actually, far more than a consensual sex act between Bill Clinton and Monical Lewinsky. As one person commenting on USA Today writes:
This is the most corrupt administration that this country has ever seen and the still keep doing what they want...Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about having sex with a woman in the Oval Office. Last time I check[ed] this wasn't a breach on my civil liberties. I can only hope that come election day the Democrats take back the House and the Senate and impeach this so called President the way he deserves.
I couldn't agree more. Impeach Bush. And his corrupt, torture-crazed Vice President too!
you think you're gonna to live your life alone
in darkness
and seclusion
yeah I know
you've been out there
tried to mix with those animals
and it just left you full of humiliated confusion
so you stagger back home
and wait for nothing
but the solitary refinement of your room spits you back out onto the street
and now you're desperate
and in need of human contact
and then
you meet me
and you whole world changes
because everything I say is everything you've ever wanted to hear
so you drop all your defenses and you drop all your fears
and you trust me completely
I'm perfect
in every way
cause I make you feel so strong and so powerful inside
you feel so lucky
but your ego obscures reality
and you never bother to wonder why
things are going so well
you wanna know why?
cause I'm a liar
yeah I'm a liar
I'll tear your mind out
I'll burn your soul
I'll turn you into me
I'll turn you into me
cause I'm a liar, a liar
a liar, a liarI'll hide behind a smile
and understanding eyes
and I'll tell you things that you already know
so you can say
I really identify with you, so much
and all the time that you're needing me
is just the time that I'm bleeding you
don't you get it yet?
I'll come to you like an affliction
and I'll leave you like an addiction
you'll never forget me
you wanna know why?
cause I'm a liar
yeah I'm a liar
I'll rip your mind out
I'll burn your soul
I'll turn you into me
I'll turn you into me
cause I'm a liar, a liar
liar, liar, liar, liarI don't know why I feel the need to lie
and cause you so much pain
maybe it's something inside
maybe it's something I can't explain
cause all I do
is mess you up and lie to you
I'm a liar
oh, I am a liarif you'll give me one more chance
I swear that I will never lie to you again
because now I see the destructive power of a lie
they're stronger than truth
I can't believe I ever hurt you
I swear
I will never to you lie again, please
just give me one more chance
I will never lie to you again
I swear
that I will never tell a lie
I will never tell a lie
no, no
ha ha ha ha ha hah haa haa haa haaa
sucker
sucker!
oh, sucker
I am a liar
yeah, I am a liar
yeah I like it
I feel good
ohh I am a liar
yeah
I lie
I lie
I lie
oh, I lie
oh I lie
I lie
yeah
ohhh I'm a liar
I lie
yeah
I like it
I feel good
I'll lie again
and again
I'll lie again and again
and I'll keep lying
I promise
But an impeachment would make a much stronger, and more appropriate, historical statement about the magnitude of his policy failures, his inability to be a leader of and for the people, and his tolerance of corruption. He and his team have failed our country many times over and deserve no less than the utter humiliation of impeachment.
For me, country and oconstitution (and my Teddy Roosevelt Progressive values) rank FAR higher than loyalty to the Democratic Party, especially if the Democratic Party were acting in a criminal, incompetent manner as the current Republican Party is doing.
Shame on the NSA, shame on the Bush administration, shame on these companies.
There is no way, absolutely no way, that they're sifting through billions of phone connections and NOT looking into other forms of communction.
BTW, Corey, I was thinking the same thing about the companies. And we saw the same thing happen with the major search engines - everyone except Google handed over company data on user searches to the government. But I think Google just lost that battle in court.