Watch what you say America

I want to mention the recent revelation that he NSA has been engaged in a massive warrentless monitoring of domestic telecommunications hitherto unknown to the Congress, the judiciary and the American people for two reasons. Those two are as follows:

1) Good for you, [my] hometown company Qwest:

Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.

Sure, your previous leadership engaged in a massive Enron-like criminal conspiracy that destroyed employee pensions and screwed consumers, but you were standing up for idividual rights, so that's something. Also, way to be smart enough to stay out of the way of what is likely to be a truly, historically, massive class action suit--especially considering your other (ahem) pending legal matters. Kudos.

2) WTF?! Seriously, they're monitoring everybodies phone records without any authorization other than, "Because we say so," and we're supposed to believe that this isn't worse than it looks? The last time the NSA's evesdropping schemes came to light the whole reassurance from the top was Don't Worry We're Only Tapping International Calls. Well that turned out to be a pack of lies. I'm not going to crack the books, but if you want a quick rundown of why this is so not legal, check here and here. (Note Prof. Kerr's statement that he thinks the Administration's legal argument will rest on Article II. That's the part of the Constitution that enumerates executive powers, which is to say that the Bush Argument will be what it always is: I want to, so I can. Also, read the whole USA Today article a note that Qwest said they would happily comply if the NSA would just get a court order...the NSA declined to do so.)

And if anybody at NSA is reading this I just want to say: Vigilence and Loyalty to Our Leader!

[UPDATE: What did I say about that lawsuit?]