On the Road to a Republican Police State

This article in USA Today reveals the startling details of the extent of the Bush Administration's spying on its own citizens. The NSA, it seems, is collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans. Key graphs:

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added. (Emphasis Added)

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

Create a database of every call ever made?? What in God's name is going on here??? These bastards have effectively suspended the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, the right of our people to be secure from "unreasonable searches and seizures". This is a chilling development, a genuine outrage, and a very real step toward complete government control over our lives.

I have long known of Bush's hostility toward true democratic republicanism and his tendencies toward dictatorship. It's part of why I have so passionately opposed him. (In addition, as we have recently learned, Bush has effectively ignored more than 700 laws passed by Congress.) He is a dangerous man, a true enemy of our nation's well being. Only one thing will stop the slide toward authoritarian government: a massive Democratic victory in November.

That's when we crank up the investigations--and get some damned answers out of these Bush commisars.