Boston Herald: What would Ma Bell do?

Good for them.

Friday, May 12, 2006 At first blush there’s something truly unnerving about the idea that government spies have their mitts on our private phone records. Really, does the National Security Agency need to know when Aunt Millie dials up her sister on the Cape? Of course not. But according to USA Today, three of the nation’s telecommunications giants have willingly turned over records of tens of millions of their customers’ phone calls to the NSA. It’s not entirely clear how the data is being used, and details aren’t exactly spilling out of the spy agency. Naturally, the reaction in Congress has been swift. You get three guesses as to what Sen. Arlen Specter is calling for and the first two don’t count. (Let’s just say we all have more televised hearings to look forward to.) And Democrats like our own Sen. John Kerry are thundering on about the injustice, threatening the nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden (former head of the NSA) to head the CIA. It is important to note, however, that unlike the Bush administration’s controversial warrantless wiretapping program, the government is neither recording nor listening in to these calls. President Bush insists government isn’t trolling through the personal lives of “innocent Americans.” And we have to assume the suits at these major public companies cleared it with legal before dumping the data. (Although we have to wonder at what point the volume of data renders it useless). Since 9/11 the American public has been willing to rely on the assurances of government leaders that they are preserving our privacy while fighting terrorism. Unfortunately, and perhaps understandably, many Americans no longer believe them.