A Stitch in Haste

I'm sorry that I'm late with commentary on the disclosure that the NSA is assembling a massive database of every phone call — everywhere, by everyone — made in the United States. I was both too busy and too stunned to gather my thoughts.

The legal issues here are even more complex than those underlying the warrantless wiretapping scandal, and are beyond my expertise — look here or here for summaries.

But here are my hasty stitches:

--Yet again the President and his senior staff lied. Flat out lied. Just as he swore before the warrantless wiretapping scandal broke that there was, um, no warrantless wiretapping, so too did he lie about monitoring being limited to terrorists (or those thought to be terrorists, or those with links to terrorists, or those thought to have links to those thought to be terrorists, etc.). Now he assures us that, "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." And we should believe him — why?

--It would be unfortunate if this travesty drowned out the other important NSA story of the day: that the Justice Department has been forced to call off its investigation of the warrantless wiretapping scandal because the NSA simply won't give the investigators the necessary security clearance. That's right: the NSA thinks that the Justice Department cannot be trusted. Perhaps the FBI has links to al Qaeda. Of course, the fact that the NSA has no problem churning out clearances to the private sector employees actually building all these programs and secret rooms and databases only shows how preposterous this latest obfuscation is.

--The database program, which as far as I'm concerned should be called "Project Posner," will likely not work. The people who data mine for a living have said as much. The database is simply too big and the goal is simply too vague. To say that such a program is somehow "vital" to the war on terror is preposterous.

--Notice how the concept of cost-benefit analysis, especially at the margin, has complete succumbed to the slippery slope of expansive government. There's no longer any standard of reasonableness or any hint of a balancing test anymore. To this administration, the prioritization of the war on terror over privacy rights is as absolute as its view of Article II power. Here we see, yet again, the unconditional elevation of a government interest (i..e., fighting terrorists) over a civil liberty (i.e., privacy). No price is too great to "get bin Laden" (who, incidentally, remains obnoxiously un-got after almost five years).

--The nomination of General Michael V. Hayden for Director of Central Intelligence is now even more out of the question than it was before. The CIA is about civilian intelligence; Hayden is about military intelligence. The CIA is about foreign intelligence; Hayden is about domestic intelligence. The CIA is about finesse and precision; Hayden is about shotgun blasts. The CIA is about protecting Americans; Hayden is about spying on Americans. He is simply not an option.