The NSA and "Data-Mining"

I'm amazed at the furor over the recent USA Today piece that reported that the No Such Agency (National Security Agency) is collecting domestic phone call records to look for patterns that might be related to terrorism. Amazed not by the fact that they are doing it, but rather by everyone's reaction to the news. How could this surprise anyone? Isn't that the NSA's job? To gather intel and protect us from attack? And how do our representatives respond? Rep. Nancy Pelosi called it "alarming." Sen. Diane Feinstein said the news will "interfere with the confirmation" of a new CIA Director. Sen. Patrick Leahy wants to know how the Government can "justify the illegal spying upon millions of ordinary Americans."

And these people, many of whom are also against closing our southern border and beefing up our military, are protecting our country? Shouldn't we be doing everything that we possibly can to catch these people before they wipe out another 3,000 of us? After 9-11, these same people chatised the President for not doing enough to prevent the attacks, and now that he is doing more, he's wrong again! You'll never hear me say that the aftermath of 9-11 has been an overwhelming success, or that our Government has performed perfectly, but this is one that they got right. And typically, the left (see above) is more concerned about embarrassing the President and the Republicans for political gain (it's an election year, folks!) than they are about the safety of all of us. Where is the Democrats plan to protect America?

It seems that the real story here is the way the media is performing in a post 9-11 era. The bias of a generally left-leaning media has never been more apparent. They are quick to discuss the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, happy to list the numbers of the dead and wounded, and they joyfully publish the details of classified national security issues, all designed to embarrass the President. But where are the stories about Medal of Honor winner Paul Smith? Or the stories about the schools being rebuilt by American Engineers? Of the American police officers who recently went to Iraq after collecting thousands of pieces of used police equipment to donate to Iraqi Police Officers?

And what about the timing of the USA Today piece? The same week that a new CIA Director has just been recommended for confirmation. Hmm. Clearly, the mainstream media in America is more interested in their own goals and points-of-view than they are in reporting the truth. Let's hope that America is smart enough to see through the fog and make up their own minds about these critical issues.