big brother times three. Government whether on any level is not being held accountable and is out of control- their arrogance is mind boggling

Having the intelligence community monitoring phone calls is very disturing and a direct violation of the constitution. What is even scarier, is who is doing the monitoring. It's not just the NSA, NRO, DIA etc... Look who is working for these govt agecies. There's been a lot of outsourcing of intelligence jobs. Pls take a look the web page for SAIC and check out the job posting. Lot's of jobs requiring SAP clearance and contracted to the NSA, DIA, etc.. What it comes down to is our govt has outsouced intel gathering to corporate America. Very very scary.

Also they say their only looking at call patterns. Witht the high level use if statistical analysis and just bits and pieces of converstations, they call tell a heck of lot about a person.

Robert Calandriello

Good! I hope they do find out who is leaking national security info to the press. I'm tired of the press helping our enemies. Maybe you guys should start trying to "FOR the USA" instead of "AGAINST the USA" ALL THE TIME. I hope the FBI nails lots of idiots who are out to destroy the intelligence agencies and cost us more soldiers and spys!

'Bout time you guys are roped in.

Excellent the Media needs looking after, Traitors most of them.......

good, you seditionist creeps deserve what you get. who knows how many serviceman have died because of your "right to know"

I hope the information they gain allows them to catch the scum that leak information, and helps them arrest the communist scum who publish it.

'Bout time you guys are roped in.

well maybe ABC news better stop leaking classified information. This only helps our enemies and right now I believe ABC news is an enemy of the US.

You didn't inconvenience someone, you broke the law. It's called a criminal investigation!!!!

I believe that it is a great idea to maintain telephone surveilance over news organizations who disclose classified and sensitive secret information. Lets nail the government employees who knowingly break their oath to not divulge classified information.

GOOD! I hope they find out who is reporting all of these leaks. And I hope you are tried and perhaps spend some time in jail for it.
KEEP CALLING and I hope they track your every word!

"Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers."

Under the law as signed by Bill Clinton collecting the information is legal. Why do you portray it as "under Bush administration guidelines?" Is this part of the bias I hear so much about?

If they are investigating leaks they probably have warrants for the searches so they can see who is leaking information. I am glad they are rooting out the people breaking the law. I hope they get the one who broke the law by telling you about this.

Anyone who doesn't believe this is just the tip of the NSA domestic spying iceberg is either naive or foolish. The first thing that crossed my mind when USAToday broke the story about a database full of purely domestic call records was that the Bush regime would be using it to keep track of every journalist and blogger. Just another step taken by this administration to suppress dissent and just another step towards stifling freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Maybe now the MSM will finally wake up and start reporting the facts about this administration instead of trying to remain neutral.

This might be one of the most frightening things I've ever read.

Anonymous sources will never be credible. It seems that the media tends to quote a "source" but won't name them. If you feel strongly about something, have the courage and conviction to stand up and be named. Another reason why I find out facts, before I reach a conclusion.

Welcome to the KGB.

Just as NYTimes' Frank Rich warned in his OpEd this past Sunday:

"...this program may have more to do with monitoring "traitors" like reporters and leakers than with tracking terrorists."

And i bet we could add political opponents and candidates to that list too.

I am a journalism graduate, UNC-Chapel Hill. I am also a veteran.
I hope they catch every government leaker of classified secret information and put them in prison for life. And any reporter publishing known classified secret information should be shot. It is called treason, not first amendment rights.

The Government appears to be more concerned about 'leaks' than they are about anything else.

The term 'National Security' was used as a reason to spy on war protestors during the Nixon era and it is used excessively now.

If we are o.k. with trolling phone numbers for a large data base then don't be surprised if this method is used for other nefarious reasons, especially since this comes right behind attempts to get medical records of women who had aboriton to search for teen abortions, attempting to get library and book store records, e-mail and telephone conversations listened to and it was suggested at one time that Americans could spy on each other and report back. I think the example was a Pizza delivery person sees a person making a bomb as he orders pizza.

It's a slippery slope and we are fast giving our freedom and liberty so fought for by thousands of young men and women in wars, conflicts and police actions. What a disgrace.

The problem, folks, is that the government has broken the law. Get it?

I'm always staggered when people who claim to uphold the "values of America" willingly and joyfully allow their government to violate those values. What's your problem with the Constitution? Take another look: Fourth Amendment. Please.

Change your phone service to Qwest.

I think that this is very good news. Something has to be done to investigate the main-stream media as the MSM has obviously declared war against the President in regards to the war on terror and and the liberation of Iraq. It is outrageous how they are working to leak classified information and to undermine our security at every turn with their reporting. It is also outrageous how they fabricate stories against the President or in a timely fashion recycle old stories as if they were new. I personally no longer trust the MSM at all and feel extremely threatened by their agenda.

I'm appalled that so many of you think this is a good development, that journalists should be gagged. I just can't wrap my head around why anyone would want their own government to have this kind of crazy power over their citizenry. Especially a government led by a man who considers his greatest accomplishment in office catching a fish.

You guys in the press have been sucking up to this president from the very beginning. You reported his lies, you bought the B.S., and you did it all for access and so you could get invited to the right parties, and so he could towel-snap you and give you stupid nicknames.

And where did it get you? Monitored by the NSA.

Maybe if you'd done your job from the beginning, we wouldn't be living in a fascist state run by a madman right now. But no....it was more important that Al Gore was stiff and John Kerry had no charisma. You wanted to drink beer with this guy? Fine. Drink your beer with him. But don't start crying now about your rights being violated.

i cant wait till the democrats get back in power and start cracking down and tracking all the rightwing thugs and some of the commenters found here. some people are so dumb and shortsighted and have ZERO understanding of the rule of law, the constitution, and civil rights.

Amendment I - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression.
Congress shall make no law... or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press....

I am tired of thae news media leaking secret information in order to hurt PREDIDENT BUSH. I would prosucute the news media leakers for treason like LINCOLN did. We are at WAR with a enemy who whants to take over the world by force or kill all of us

This has to be one of the most frightening issues of our time. I as a citizen deserve to know what the moral construction of our government. The press gave us information such as immoral and unappropriately un-American torture prisons; obtaining this information and releasing is Patriotic, because it goes against what we believe is right. "Our govt should be afraid of its people", not the other way around.

Will mainstream media FINALLY fight back against this fascist regime? It's almost too late now.

BTW, with all the spying on Americans taking place, has anyone seen Osama?

i don't what is scarier, the article or the responses in this thread. some of these responses smack of the very worst kind of authoritarian fascism. these people talk just like the communist party hacks i've met in cuba or the old soviet union... and they call themselves patriots. it's disgusting.

I think that this is very good news. Something has to be done to investigate the main-stream media as the MSM has obviously declared war against the President in regards to the war on terror and and the liberation of Iraq. It is outrageous how they are working to leak classified information and to undermine our security at every turn with their reporting. It is also outrageous how they fabricate stories against the President or in a timely fashion recycle old stories as if they were new. I personally no longer trust the MSM at all and feel extremely threatened by their agenda.

You commit treason and expose classified national securtiy information - the goverment is going to come after you - as they should.

Tom,

Bush and Cheney are committing illegal acts. They shouldn't be protected. It's morally right for these "leakers" to get all the information out......

And please no one needs to be shot.

My .02

-Mike

You do realize people are being paid by the Bush administration to attack the press publically on comment pages like this. I personally was offered a job doing it.
Look at the similarities in the comments."Aid the enemy" "leaking security" ABC is simply telling it's viewers what it's ELECTED GOVERNMENT is doing with it's money-destroying this country's power in the eyes of the world!

I want to know what my government is doing. I want to have some measure of control over my life. I am tired of living in the constant fear this administration has subjected us to in the name of patriotism.
Who are these jackasses who think the press is giving aid to the enemy. What blind nonsense.

"Welcome to the KGB"

...and the ignorant children turning in their parents for crimes against the state.

Gone are the days of the patriot who spoke, "Give me liberty or give me death." Now we have Neil Cavuto: "[C]ollecting our phone records" is better than "collecting our remains."

Might as well start calling Bush "Dear Leader" as well as addressing each other as 'comrade' and while we're at it let's change the name of the CIA to KGB and start holding May Day parades where we show off our shiny tanks and missiles. That's where we are headed folks, I mean 'comrades'

If you don't believe in the US Constitution, get the out of here. If you don't support the Bill of Rights, then YOU are Anti-American. Go move to Russia, Cuba, or China; move anywhere but get the hell out of my country. The only reason our soldiers are dying in this war is because the people that you degenerates voted into office sent them off to fight for someone else. Own up to your mistakes and quit trying to trade my liberty for your false sense of security.

Ok Tommy Boy, shall we start with Dick Cheney and Robert Novak?

When the government itself breaks the law and hides behind the veil of secrecy - who will stand up and hold them accountable to the rule of law? An elected government is not royalty nor infallible - a true democracy, the people, keeps its government in line with the law. The news media "broke the law" when they published the classified Pentagon papers back in the 70's - and when the activities of Nixon's "plumbers" were exposed. A lot of those same convicted criminals are back at it, running through the halls of power today. Since the American people seem unable and unwilling to throw these bums out of office, it lies with the media to report on the truth and not allow the government to break the law and gut this country. Stand up to power, folks!

"Fascism would be better described as corporatism, since it is marriage between the state and business" - Benito Mussolini

Tom, it's not treason. It's covered by US Code title 18 section 793, 794 and 798 among others. See http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dd_1847_1.pdf

It's a felony. The leakers should go to jail. The publishers and reporters, to the extent that they knew information was classified, should go to jail. Nobody should be shot.

Didn't we just live through this a little over 30 years ago? Just a week ago today, John Negroponte said:

"This is about international terrorism and telephone calls between people thought to be working for international terrorism and people here in the United States."

The news reports of domestic spying are just the sound of history repeating. When the President and "America" become conflated - for whatever reason - anyone who can be viewed as in opposition to the President is therefore in opposition to "America." Reporters, whistleblowers, activists, columnists, Democrats - they are all working against our country.

Therefore, they are "working for international terrorism".

Fair game for wiretaps, for warrantless searches, for blackmail, for sting operations, for prosecution, for rendition, for Guantanamo - or for a Halliburton-built "detention center."

Why is it always the Republican presidencies that act on their paranoid fears? Is GWB wandering the halls of the White House at night, talking to a portrait of Lincoln?

Tom Camp: "I am a journalism graduate, UNC-Chapel Hill. I am also a veteran.
I hope they catch every government leaker of classified secret information (*) and put them in prison for life. And any reporter publishing known classified secret information should be shot. It is called treason, not first amendment rights."

* - Except outing CIA agents for political payback. I like those.

I will bring Dick Cheney to his knees.

They're not spying on reporters to find "leakers". They're looking for anything that's different from their POV - different from the FoxNews POV.

It's brainwashing. It's clear by those who rushed to post supportive comments here that it's worked to a degree....

Enjoy the fission this administration has created in this government......

CHENEY, LIBBY, BUSH. They are the leakers.
The press is there to keep them from further screwing up this country. Without accountability they can do whatever they choose (pretty much what Bush is doing spying on all of us, costing us a fortune in gas prices and medical bills, and killing innocent people because of a pack of lies)

People should remember the thoughts of Thomas More when Henry VIII jailed him for not accepting Royal edicts. More believed we have to fight for the rights others', in this case the news media, to protect our own.
If Bush isn't stopped, we'll all lose our rights under the guise of fighting terrorism.

If people were really interested in "rooting out the lawbreakers" they'd root out the Bush Administrations as a whole.

Our troops today and yesteryear did not sacrifice their lives so that we can live in the same conditions as the former USSR.

It's funny watching people support the actions of the government in recording and tracking American citizens. The Bush Administration has turned the United States into a Soviet style state, where dissent and questioning is treason and people should be shot. Where did my country go. And don't give me a line about 9/11 changing everything. The terrorists hitting us has nothing to do with our Constitution being usurped by these hacks.

I will bring Dick Cheney to his knees.

Tom Camp, do you think this should start with Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney, or is disclosing classified information and outing a CIA agent for the purpose of attacking a political enemy OK if the President agrees to it?

Is it treason to disclose information classified by the executive branch if that information reveals that the President has repeatedly broken U.S. law?

The blind hatred for the press conveyed by several who have posted is more frightening than the NSA.

Whatever is necessary to win the war on terror is justifiable, therefore, will be done- right or wrong.

The people who are posting in support of this non-sense seem to have forgotten what is at stake here. The Bush administration and their cronies need to be held accountable. Do not forget the Presidential Daily Brief from August 2001 that forewarned about a potential terrorist attack. We'd not even be having this discussion if Bush and crew had been doing their job. To say that reporters and/or dissenters should be treated as traitors is really over-the-top. Perhaps those who support this need to take a long look at what it means to live in a free country, because they surely seem to be bound and determined to turn America into a fascist state. Wake up, people!

I am going to be very curious to see how people feel when a democrat is in the White House and essentially inherits the same set of rules that this president is using. Remember the black helicopter crowd in the 90s? These are the same people writing in to support the president's efforts to infiltrate the press. In fact, I'd be willing to be they're the same people commenting on this post.

Sag.

$10 says this is the same source that provided them national guard documents.

So I suppose they are also keeping track of people who comment on this story. "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Gestapo." "Gestapo who?" (Sound of door being smashed....).

Fascinating watching all the Soviets giggle over the press "finally getting caught" and muttering about "traitor journalists." Welcome to America, comrades, it's looking more and more like your former home every day.

As for the press itself, it will be interesting to see if anyone actually put up a fuss. The mainstream press has been Bush's faithful lapdogs for his entire presidency. I doubt many of them will actually bother to protest. The days of a real oppositional press in this country are long behind us. I'm not even sure the wirepats are necessary; I imagine that most of Bush's little journalistic poodles would have provided the information if asked.

The most frightening part of this is the swarm of responses attacking the media and honest public servants for revealing illegal government operations.

This lynch mob believes that torture, arbitrary arrest, indefinite detention on secret charges and other abuses of human freedom are only bad if the Russians or Chinese do it.

Yet they attack liberals for "situational ethics." What goes around, comes around, folks. Don't come whining to the media when it's your turn on the rack. Not that we won't want to help you -- but you will have blown away our ability to do it.

I thought the story was that the terrorists attacked America because they hate freedom. The only people I see who hate freedom around here are Bush supporters.

Fellow Americans, we have to insure that the Bush administration doesn't feel free to spy on whomever they want WITHOUT A WARRANT. It's illegal.

It's good to read comments from right wing conservatives advocating the prosecution of the vice president for the treasonable act of leaking Valerie Plame's name for political purposes. The fact that she was expert in Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities is very important to national security. I'm not sure the leaking of news about our having secret prisons in eastern europe where torture interrogations are conducted qualifies as the same type of leak. Sadly, the fourth estate is as corrupt as both political parties.

From the Church Committee report:

"In time of crisis, the government will exercise its power to conduct domestic intelligence activities to the fullest extent. The distinction between legal dissent and criminal conduct is easily forgotten," the committee wrote. "In an era where the technological capability of government relentlessly increases, we must be wary about the drift toward `big brother government.'''

Andy says "We are at WAR with a enemy who whants to take over the world by force or kill all of us".

Well, his name is George. And what are we going to do about him?

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin

My question is simple. If you won't allow the government to do ANY type of data mining or survellience without FIRST having a federal warrant, how the heck can you get the warrant? Don't you need evidence before a warrant is granted? On one had the media, and ABC, complain about the administrations inability to "connect the dots" that lead up to Sept. 11th and on the other they criticize every effort to thwart terrorists attacks?

Personally, as I don't call anyone associated with Al Qaeda, I don't CARE if the Government tracks me, listens to me or records me. Only the guilty should be nervous. Is ABC and the NYT Guilty of aiding terroism or are they/you simply guilty of undermingin our security by letting the terrorists know what we are trying to do to stop them? In either case, you should be ashamed.

What did ABC say during WWII when Roosevelt made sure that no classified information was leaked through the media?

How can one defend the indefensible? This is not an America with which I'm familiar. And neither are these posters. If they don't like a free press, one that takes an active look at exactly what our government is up to, then I suggest they move.

I hear North Korea is nice this time of year. You'll find the press there much less apt to level a critique against the government.

I also think the above posters suffer from belonging to the Bush cult of personality. Within this cult, Bush can do no wrong and is to be trusted. Not that he's ever given evidence for this, but this is one of the underlying delusions of the posters. Nothing new here, Nixon also attracted rabid defenders to the bitter end.

As for ABC, thank you for your work.

Very scary, but who knows...if these records were public information, rather than being screened and filtered out against favorite targets, I think we would see a lot of the leakers (think Libby) are on the wrong side of the fence...although we will never hear about those leaks...

BTW, a source is only protected if the information provided is determined to be true. A source loses its legal protection if they are providing lies.

Also, the protections of a journalist and a source are about as protected as a Lawyer -> Client or Doctor -> Patient. Not that I necessarily agree it should be (people should be accountable for what they say) but either this information needs to be available for everybody, or nobody. I don't want some partisan analyst overlooking all their buddies leaks and using this for their own agenda, which is exactly what I see happening.

This article is completely dependent upon an unnamed source who supposedly made the claims cited in the article. None of this may be true but ABC doesn't even suggest this possibility; rather, it publicizes this unproven contention--"ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling"-- by concluding it is true, yet there is no way for ABC to know if any of their phones were tapped at all. Since they are willing to go public with contentions "proven" by yet another unnamed source, I am unwilling to get fished into whether or not this is good or bad. But my inclination is to suspect the network is creating a suspicion that isn't there, and as a national media outlet, they shouldn't be in the business of unsubstantiated rumors.

Anyone who thinks they want this information just to track terrorists is brainwashed.

It's obvious to anyone who understands how Rove & Co. operate that this information is being gathered to help them in consolidating and controlling power - they will use it in any way they can to qwell opposition and scare people into keeping quiet while they break the law.

These guys are thugs and liars and will do anything to retain power -- given the billions of dollars that power lets them control. Anyone who thinks this database won't be brought to bear to to help them not lose control of that money is fooling themselves -- and lying to the rest of us.

They are complicit in the fleecing of Americans and in assisting the funders of the Republican Party in locking down control over the US Treasury and Military to use for their own, self-serving purposes.

I'm amazed by all the people who think illegal spying is 'okay', as long as it 'protects' them.

Nothing is going to protect them. The terrorists will strike when and where they strike.

President Bush is an incompetent boob who has absolutely no finesse or intelligence, unfortunately and who is ruining America. The fact that he has a bunch of liars, thugs and criminals working for him just exacerbates the problems.

It really is a sad day in America.

My family escaped from a Communist regime and, to see this butchering of the Constitution is just sickening.

Impeach him now!

Leaking classified information is a crime. It doesn't matter the intentions, it is a crime.

receiving and publishing that info is a crime.

Both need to be punished.

As far as tracking phone calls, the Feds do much more than that with your financial info. The IRS routinely trolls through your financial records without your knowledge.

So far, nobody seems to mind that.

But, ooooooo those SCARY phone records.

BTW: As early as the 1920's ITT, the international phone company was giving the govt the full text of all telegrams crossing the US border. The NSA was founded for the express purpose of monitoring phone calls across the border. Its been doing that since 1949. And you are just now figuring this out?

Sheesh.

John Henry

I can't beleive the number of comments about hoping to catch media people who leak classified info! How about Presidents, VP's and Secretaries of Defense and State who leak CIA operatives names for their own political gains? This country and many of the people in it are becoming very scary! The drink the coolaid everyday and somehow miss the point of who is leaking our national secuity, who is lying about wmds and causing untold death and destruction for profit? Its not the news people or CIA veterans who tell the truth to protect America and the Constitution...they are heroes! They know what America used to stand for and are risking their lives and futures to try to save it from the fascists who have somehow taken over the government with their own selfish
agenda.
Peace

If Bill Clinton's administration had tapped Fox News' phones, the right-wing fascists would have fired their assault rifles at the White House.

Q:

What's more offensive to our democracy than the Bush administration turning the executive branch into a virtual black op, attempting to seal off world-changing and constitution-altering plans and activities from press and congressional scrutiny?

A:
Well for one thing, the blind and clueless enthusiasm with which Americans like some of the posters here rush to support them, barely a clue in hand about the full story or its consequences.

"Thank you sir, may I have another!"

IMHO, which I see is already, fortunately not alone (as it was when I first when to try to get this post up). If these probably well meaning patriots have to post again to tell me my liberal, civil liberties-over-war-on-terror opinion is twisted, weak, and aids "the enemy" -- apologies in advance to all who have to type or read the responses. I know how tiring this all too predictable exchange is by now...

I am ashamed of THOSE AMERICANS THAT I HAVE JUST READ ... THE ONES THAT ARE SAYING IT'S OK FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO WATCH OUR ACTIVITY. And that the MEDIA is the enemy of the state.
I AM APPALLED BECAUSE FROM WHAT I REMEMBER GROWING UP...IT WAS THE COMMUNISTS THAT MONITORED THEIR CITIZENS...THE THING THAT HAS MADE AMERICA GREAT IS OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES,,,, AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW BLINDLY BEHIND THIS ADMINISTRATION OR ANY ADMINISTRATION FOR THAT MATTER ARE SHEEP AND NO BETTER THAN THE GERMAN CITIZENS THAT FOLLOWED BLINDLY BEHIND ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZIS

So for all you who think the media needs to be roped in, would you rather the government break the law and violate your rights as a citizen and you NOT know about it?

Whistleblowers can't go to a Republican run congress, nothing will happen. This is the only way people will know what's going on.

And if you think this is limited to just news sources and NOT political opponents, then you're incredibly naive.

THE REAL QUESTION is if all the Bush apologists posting here are going to feel the same way when President Hillary has the power to spy on Americans she doesn't like...

Are we seriously supposed to believe this story? How self-promoting can you people get? Look! Look! Everything we said was happening is happening because we say it is!

Nice try.

'Personally, as I don't call anyone associated with Al Qaeda, I don't CARE if the Government tracks me, listens to me or records me. Only the guilty should be nervous.'

And if you call someone who called someone who called someone who has a name similar to a terrorist ... you're being tracked. This is a 'contact-contagion' database, not something with a nice tight focus. And they apparently are tracking *ALL* the calls in the country, probably including cellphones (or, why criminals and terrorists use disposable cells).

Looks like the same people who are spying on Americans are posting about his article.

Is there anything Republicans won't do to destroy this country in the name of one little Chimp dicatator?

Chris,
How does collecting more dots help you to connect the dots? It only makes it harder to connect the dots when you start throughing it billions of other dots that have nothing to do with anything. Look, it is not only people that are guilty of crimes that should be afraid, everyone should be. This information can be used against political opponents, reporters, and anyone that opposes the government. If you can't see that, God help you.

I was watching a documentary on the horrors surrounding Auschwitz over the weekend. The Nazi party made war on anyone who disagreed with them, too. Sound familiar?