I think the first question is whether there is Congressional oversight. My understanding is that some members , e.g. cleared members on the Senate Intelligence Committee, have been briefed on the program, so there is oversight.
The next question is whether the administration sees this as a special war power or just something they plan to do forever. If they plan to make this a permanent part of the job of the NSA, I think it should and will face judicial review. The larger question is something we all recognize but most average people are still not congnizant of. There is a growing mountain of data floating around in the world, nearly all of it connected to the Internet one way or another and much of it readily available. What should be the limits of the government's authority to collect, store, and mine that data? Not just phone records. Everything. You can bet in China the government collects everything that goes through the Great Firewall and scans it for potential subverisve behavior. I don't want to end up like China. At the same time, the government has a reasonable need to use information to hunt down people who would commit terrorist violence, but the line gets very grey very fast. I'm sure the Chinese would argue that their actions are no different than ours - protecting "national security". I don't have an answer, I just think we need smart people who understand the technology and the implications of its use to come up with a framework that gives the government tools to provide security but protects individuals against unreasonable searches. On 5/11/06, Zaphod wrote: > > C'mon you know amsay and probably icknay are just going to defend it as > part > of the 'war' on terrorism, meanwhile russgay will go on about the assault > on > our personal freedoms. Enbay Ranlkinfay's quote will be brought up. > Oathelay will defend this action, but still disagree with the Ushbay > administration. Elgay will bring up how unAmerican America is acting. > Obertray could go on either side of this argument....that might be the > most > interesting point. Onytay will call the president some interesting names. > All in all, the same old argument. > > -- --------------- Robert Munn www.funkymojo.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:206700 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
