NSA Datamining: A Political Trap for Dems is Sprung

Finally, a little hardball from the Bush administration, which has, to my mind, been overdoing the rope-a-dope of late. Citing anonymous sources, USA Today revealed today that the National Security Agency has been conducting a massive program to track phone call patterns within the United States with the aim of identifying terrorist communications:

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

There have already been rumors of this program; the confirmation by the USA Today story merely confirms and brings to the fore an open secret.

Just in time for the confirmation hearings of General Michael Hayden for CIA Director.

Democratic leaders know that the NSA issue is a loser for them, that's why President Bush was said to be looking forward to them making an issue of General Hayden's involvement with the NSA's domestic eavesdropping program. But the Dems were not snapping the bait with much enthusiasm.

Now, thanks to this USA Today story, the shithouse rat mentality of the Democratic base will force their hand.

I sense the hand of the Architect behind this one. Brilliant.