The Democrat party is in shambles. Neither believing what they know, nor knowing wha they believe. Not a party of leadership in these dangerous times. The American public knows this - and the truth be told, Democrats know it too.
Some democrats have understood what is important from the beginning and have treaded lightly. Unlike their counterparts on the rabid left that screams impeachment (although it looks like Jimmy Carter should be talking), they as intelligent people can disagree on whether this program needs to be looked at or left as it is.
Again, 9/11 changed everything. So if you are talking with Al Qaeda - and you are planning to kill Americans you have NO right to anything except a blind fold - cigarette and a finely placed bullet "center mass".
UPDATE: Per AJ, here is major update to the NSA story, click on the link here to get AJ's take. The gists is that General Michael Hayden, principle deputy director of national intelligence and former director of the NSA speaking on the program in front of the National Press Club to clear up the misconceptions about the program. Here is the key part for me:
"Hayden was asked, even though he clearly said in his earlier comments that the agency isn’t involved in a “driftnet” surveillance program, if the NSA as intercepting all American’s emails and other communications. His answer was filled with quite a bit of common sense.
“In 2003, our citizenry was on the phone in international calls alone for 200 billion minutes, okay? I mean, beyond the ethical considerations involved here, there are some practical considerations about being a drift net. This is targeted, this is focused. This is about al Qaeda”, he said.
Well, I think it is too easy in this day and age to imagine that the US government has some sort of Hollywood movie style technology, some science fiction like ability, to gather up and read every single American’s every silly email, note to Mom, or listen to every pointless cell call to girlfriends and pals the country over. But, as Hayden reminds us, this capability does not exist. And the 200 billion minutes of cell phone blather that Hayden cites was from 2003. American’s have increased their usage of cell phones – as well as email -- by leaps and bounds since 2003 making the surveillance of them even more impossible.
There just aren’t enough people available to any US agency to surveil that avalanche of modes of communication. There isn’t even any computer powerful enough to do it in man’s stead, for that matter.
As I said before, this isn't wide-spread "spying on Americans", this is one on one conversations between parties that are plotting attacks against Americans. It's a program that protects us against more attacks. Nothing more - nothing less.
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