Should you worry that your phone records are being watched?
Sunday, May 14, 2006; Posted: 7:42 a.m. EDT (11:42 GMT)
(Time.com) -- Around the White House, an abrupt change in the president's public schedule is known as an "audible," and generally, it's the last thing anyone wants to suggest to a boss so allergic to disruption that he makes everyone turn off their cell phones when he's in the room.
But last week, when USA Today broke a story that the federal government has been secretly keeping track of the phone calls that tens of millions of ordinary Americans make each day, it was George Bush himself who proposed an impromptu appearance before the television cameras. "I want to say something about this myself," he told aides who had gathered in the Oval Office.
To reporters, Bush offered no denial, or even much by way of explanation. "The intelligence activities I authorized are lawful," he said, without specifying which laws in particular had authorized them.
And he added, "So far, we've been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil."
There was a time -- say, four years and nine months ago -- when news that the government has been gathering up phone records might have the makings of a scandal, or even a constitutional crisis. But while there have been protests from civil libertarians and some criticism on Capitol Hill, early indications suggest the disclosures could actually give a political boost to a president who hasn't had many of those lately.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/14/coverstory.tm/index.htmlfull article:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/14/coverstory.tm/index.html
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