As you say, your phone number is in the phone book. You can get a name from a number without too much effort.

This isn’t your phone numbers. This is your calls.

“I’ll just quote it over here since you obviously didn’t read it.”

I read it. I know whats at stake.

The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the

This doesn’t involve eavesdropping, but merely running these millions of phone numbers and tens of millions of phone contacts through some kind of computer analysis.

This has nothing to do with the Fourth Amendment. The case law couldn’t be clearer. And those who demand judicial oversight do so not because they want or hope the courts will affirm these intelligence-gathering methods, but because they oppose them and hope some activist court will kill them.

Disarming as this enemy plots against us, even where the Constitution doesn’t require it, is a perverse view of civil liberties. It’s not the lawyers in the courtrooms who are challenging or will challenge these basic intelligence gather practices who are protecting our civil liberties. It’s the soldiers, spies, intelligence analysts, and law enforcement, led by a president with the guts to face down this enemy, who are doing so.

Is not life the most important of civil liberties? These intelligence programs are trashed without any curiosity as to whether they’ve prevented any attacks and saved any lives. The hostile responses are largely knee-jerk and lack any kind of context. The arguments are abstract and descend into fear-mongering. While I’m all for philosophical debates, how about a little more reality when it comes to fighting and winning this war—a real war against a horrific enemy.

I take my phone calls to be part of my private life. That’s why the Bush FTC is going after companies that illegally sell cellphone records. Because people consider those part of their private lives.

Thats about data mining. Bush said we’re not data mining.