So Take a Look at Me Now...

I'll repeat that I am not conventionally wise. I mentioned before that the coming confirmation hearings for Hayden will bring up the domestic spying program- an issue that I think will hurt Republicans (and should hurt Democrats who don't have the decency or gumption- that's right I said gumption to defend the Constitution and stand for what's right).

Nows there's more news that bodes ill for Hayden.

USA Today, in a tone and style only USA Today goes for, laid out the NSA domestic call mining situation in a pretty straightforward way.

It seems to directly go where the president won't in asking, "What about my phone calls?"
"Q: Does the NSA's domestic program mean that my calling records have been secretly collected?
A: In all likelihood, yes. The NSA collected the records of billions of domestic calls. Those include calls from home phones and wireless phones."

USA Today wrote that yesterday; today the president offered a bit of misdirection on the issue. I am not saying the president is lying. Just like a magician isn't lying when he waves his right hand around while doing something with his left. Watch:

THE PRESIDENT: After September the 11th, I vowed to the American people that our government would do everything within the law to protect them against another terrorist attack. As part of this effort, I authorized the National Security Agency to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. In other words, if al Qaeda or their associates are making calls into the United States or out of the United States, we want to know what they're saying.

Well it's not a surprise he mentioned 9/11 there is it? Okay moving on... Hey he's talking about the warrantless domestic spying- the USA Today article is about the NSA mining the records of all our phone calls. What!? Oh hey where did the jack of diamonds come from?

That's tricky. What else does he say?

(1) First, our international activities strictly target al Qaeda and their known affiliates. (1a )Al Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans. (2) Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls (2a) without court approval. (3) Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful (3a) and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. (4) Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities.

1- Well this is a domestic activity under discussion.
1a- Oh that's right
2- The article is about collecting call data records- not eavesdropping
2a- Again it's not about the domestic NSA eavesdropping; even if it were it seems one end of the call being domestic would require a warrant
3- They seem to rely on a tautological argument though about executive authority- if the president does it it isn't illegal
3a- Briefing Congress is not the same as having a warrant and it doesn't mean it's legal
4- What does that term "ordinary" mean? And is he saying that possibly violating the 4th amendment is how privacy is protected? That's a possible CYA meaning. And it's all a whole lot of misdirection. The new straw on the camel is domestic call data collection, he's talking about the previous straw. Of course I am assuming this presidential statement has anything to do with the news about Verizon et al hanging us out to dry.

Anyway all this was just to say I think the odds for Hayden getting the Myers just changed. Good news for you folks that locked in at 5:1, bad news for you if you're waiting. I'm calling it 3:1 without a hearing and even money if there is.

Good grief- I'm supposed to be finishing a paper right now.