fulfill your destiny, do that thing to that guy
First off, I have assumed for at least 30 years that the government has been engaged in illegal wiretaps. I assume that the government reads any e-mail it wants to. I assume that the government breaks into people's homes and goes through their underwear drawers. It's the government; that's what governments do. I mean of course it's a scandal yadda yadda, but is it surprising? I think not.
So what I can't get is the Bush administration's hysterical reaction to the revelations. A presidential spokesman named Trent Duffy said, "The fact that al Qaeda's playbook is not printed on Page One, and when America's is, it has serious ramifications."
(Al Qaeda's playbook? Does it sometimes seem to you that the government is being run by retired athletic directors?)
But seriously, can you envision a terrorist picking up the New York Times and saying, "My God, men, the government may have been listening in to our telephone calls. Quick, let's find another way to communicate." I think probably they've figured that part out by now. I think the idea that the New York Times somehow leaked super-duper secrets to the enemy is ludicrous.
And if illegal wiretaps are Page One of the U.S. playbook, the United States is in big trouble. What's on Page 2 -- following suspicious people and taking pictures of them? Hanging around mosques asking people if they want to buy Stinger missiles?
Jon Carroll is love.
So what I can't get is the Bush administration's hysterical reaction to the revelations. A presidential spokesman named Trent Duffy said, "The fact that al Qaeda's playbook is not printed on Page One, and when America's is, it has serious ramifications."
(Al Qaeda's playbook? Does it sometimes seem to you that the government is being run by retired athletic directors?)
But seriously, can you envision a terrorist picking up the New York Times and saying, "My God, men, the government may have been listening in to our telephone calls. Quick, let's find another way to communicate." I think probably they've figured that part out by now. I think the idea that the New York Times somehow leaked super-duper secrets to the enemy is ludicrous.
And if illegal wiretaps are Page One of the U.S. playbook, the United States is in big trouble. What's on Page 2 -- following suspicious people and taking pictures of them? Hanging around mosques asking people if they want to buy Stinger missiles?
Jon Carroll is love.