Top Items:
Associated Press:
Bush: We're not trolling your personal life — Lawmakers demand answers on phone records report — WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans and Democrats demanded answers from the Bush administration Thursday about a government spy agency secretly collecting records …
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John O'Neil / New York Times:
Bush Says U.S. Spying Is Not Widespread — President Bush today denied that the government is "mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," as Democrats expressed outrage over a news report describing a National Security Agency program that has collected vast amounts of telephone records.
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
No need for Congress, no need for courts — (updated below) — I just this morning read the obviously significant USA Today article detailing the fact that the NSA is maintaining a comprehensive data base of every call made by every American - both internationally and domestically …
Crooks and Liars:
Cafferty: Dictatorship — Jack Cafferty didn't hold back today: — Video-WMP Video-QT — Cafferty: We all hope nothing happens to Arlen Specter, the Republican head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cause he might be all that stands between us and a full blown dictatorship in this country.
Rich Noyes / NewsBusters.org:
Hyping USA Today's "Big Brother" Bombshell: TV Jumps on Stale NSA Database Story — Seismic! Shocking! Startling! A bombshell!! That's how the ABC, CBS and NBC morning shows described a front-page story in today's (Thursday's) USA Today that breathlessly touted how "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls."
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Outside The Beltway, BluegrassReport.org, News Hounds, The Carpetbagger Report and Bench Conference
Associated Press:
Text: Bush's Comments on NSA Activities — Remarks by President Bush Thursday on reports of the National Security Agency building a secret database of U.S. telephone records, as transcribed by the White House: — After September the 11th, I vowed to the American people that our government …
USA Today:
Bush defends NSA data collection program — WASHINGTON — Responding quickly to a USA TODAY report that his administration has collected information on tens of millions of domestic phone calls, President Bush today said everthing the National Security Agency has done is legal …
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Legal issues governing the Administration's newly disclosed surveillance program — (updated below - updated again) — Orin Kerr has a post which preliminary assesses some of the legal issues involved with the domestic data gathering program, concluding (in his standard …
AJStrata / The Strata-Sphere:
Another Day, Another National Security Leak — *** Major Update: Mac Ranger has word those who leaked this story are known to authorities and this may be a political hit job *** — *** Major Update at the end - and make sure to check out the comments section for links …
Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
THOUGHTS ON THE LEGALITY OF THE LATEST NSA PROGRAM: Assuming that the newly-disclosed NSA surveillance program was described accurately in the USA Today story, is this program legal? Here is a very preliminary run down of the issues. It's not as complete as I would like …
William Branigin / Washington Post:
NSA Call-Tracking Program Sparks Alarm — Bush Insists That Citizens' Privacy is 'Fiercely Protected' — President Bush, responding to a newspaper report on a previously undisclosed program to track the phone call patterns of millions of Americans, insisted today that U.S. intelligence activities …
USA Today:
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
Discussion:
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Thomas B. Edsall / Washington Post:
Democrats Are Fractured Over Strategy, Funds — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have clashed angrily in recent days in a dispute about how the party should spend its money in advance of this fall's midterm elections.
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Ryan Alessi / Lexington Herald-Leader:
Grand jury indicts Gov. Ernie Fletcher — The special grand jury that's been investigating state government hiring practices today indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher on three misdemeanor charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination. — The jury also indicted former …
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
The Glenn and Helen Show: Ken Mehlman and Michael Barone on 2006 and 2008 — It's a roundup of Republican problems and solutions in today's Glenn and Helen Show. First, we talk to Ken Mehlman, chair of the Republican National Committee, about polls, anger in the base, and issues like immigration, spending, taxes, and judges.
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Baltimore Examiner:
Snow issues detailed rebuttals to media coverage of the president — WASHINGTON - New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is starting off in a combative mode against the press by issuing detailed rebuttals to what he considers unfair coverage of Bush. — "The New York Times continues …
Phillip Martin / Burnt Orange Report:
The Tragedy of House Bill 1 — The Senate voted to pass out an incredibly twisted piece of legislation today after three days of secret meetings behind closed doors. The vote, which was unanimous and confirms that the "private club" of the Texas Senate is more important than the entire population of Texas …