The Latest NSA Gambit

Why is it, when the administration has so consistently lied about so much, that we take them at their word that they're just analyzing patterns of numbers called? History shows that unless caught and exposed, this administration admits to nothing, and denies everything.

Just you wait... we're only days away from yet another investigation to discover not "Why was the NSA's domestic surveillance program allowed to happen?", but rather "Who blabbed?"

I'm not prepared to believe that the NSA stops with merely analyzing patterns of numbers called. Given enough time, I'm sure we'd find huge arrays of giant hard drives filled with terabytes of recorded calls, just waiting for the pattern analysis results to tell the spooks which calls to listen to.

Dare I suggest the next chapter? Fast forward to the 2008 campaign. Is anyone willing to trust Karl Rove and other strategists to resist the temptation to "investigate" patterns of calls by the democratic nominee's campaign? Has this government demonstrated to its citizens that it can be trusted? How many times can we hear "Trust us—we're protecting you" before collectively dissolving into a fit of hysterical incredulity?

I feel like we're all living between the covers of a hard-to-believe hardbound political thriller novel or a dungeons and dragons game. Every time I think this regime has sunk as low as it can, the floor moves away to reveal yet another lower and darker level lurking below. This administration is slowly but surely and systematically replacing the Bill of Rights and other Constitutional protections and safeguards with its own agenda of command and control. When I read yet another story about Diebold in this morning's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12vote.html?ex=1305086400&en=1b3554af6e2d524a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss), I can't help but wonder if it's already too late.

Peace.